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Australia mining at risk from climate change-fueled drought and heat - Nikkei Asia

Nikkei Asia · last updated

Australia mining at risk from climate change-fueled drought and heat - Nikkei Asia

SYDNEY -- Climate change poses a "serious and growing" threat to the production of essential commodities around the globe, with critical mineral and vital metals mined in Australia facing increased exposure to high temperatures and droughts, according to a PwC report.

The consultancy studied the risks to nine commodities, including metals and food staples, posed by droughts and heatwaves that are forecast to increase in severity and frequency as global temperatures rise in response to increasing amounts of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere.

Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: coal

State of Play

The use of coal, a staple of heating and electricity-generation for decades, is in decline in the United States — supplanted by newly abundant production of natural gas — but is still dominant in some parts of the world. While economical, coal use is particularly problematic as international attention focuses increasingly on climate change.

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