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Unit 4
Area of Study 1
Healthy Outdoor Environments
The contemporary state of outdoor environments in
Australia, with reference to common themes used in
the State of the Environment reports
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Unit 4 Area of Study 1

Today we will be learning about:


The contemporary state of outdoor environments in
Australia, with reference to common themes used in the
State of the Environment reports

You will need to be able to:


Evaluate the contemporary state of Australian outdoor
environments
Collect and interpret data on the contemporary state
of a particular outdoor environment
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Key words:

SOE Report

Atmosphere

Biodiversity

Coasts

Inland water

Land

Heritage

Marine environment

Built environment

Antarctic environment
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SoE Report

As we are now aware, it is imperative that we closely monitor


the condition of our local environments to ensure that they are
conserved and protected from threatening species and
practices.
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SoE Report
Every 5 years, the Australian Government commissions an independent
review of the state of the environment. The purpose of national state of the
environment reporting is to:

provide all Australians with authoritative information on the state of the


environment that sustains our economy and wellbeing

provide the Australian public, the Australian Government and other


decision-makers responsible for managing our environment with an
assessment of how effectively the Australian environment is being managed
and what the key national environmental issues are.

To ensure that this information is as credible and robust as possible, the


report is written by a panel of independent authors, based on the best
available evidence, and quality checked through a rigorous consultation,
peer-review and fact-checking process.

The ongoing provision of this key information is ensured by a requirement


under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act
1999 (EPBC Act) for the Minister for the Environment and Energy to table a
report in Parliament every 5 years on the state of the environment.
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Themes of SoE Reports

The State of the Environment Report is broken into themes


including:

Atmosphere

Biodiversity

Coasts

Inland waters

Land

Heritage
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Atmosphere

Atmosphere discusses:

Ozone

Air quality

The influence of Green House Gasses or (GHG)

Likely impacts of climate change


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Biodiversity

Biodiversity discusses:

The status of plants

The status of animals

The status of micro-organisms

The ecosystems that plants, animals and micro-organisms


make up

The SOE reports consider both changes in the last 15 years and
changes since European settlement
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Coasts

Coasts refers to the areas where land meets aquatic or marine


environments. Coasts focus on:

The challenges faced by climate change

Management strategies used to respond against


environmental pressures
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Inland Water

This area focuses on:

Water courses

The policies put in place to minimise the impact of drought


on society
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Land

Land discusses:

The state of our soil

Vegetation resources

The pressures the soil and vegetation faces

The issues and priorities of management


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Heritage

This area focuses on:

Indigenous heritage

Cultural heritage

Natural heritage

The threats that each heritage face

The challenges of managment


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Marine Environment

The report on Marine Environments discusses:

The impacts of fisheries

Oil and gas extraction

Coastal development

Potential impacts of climate change

Issues around marine management


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Built Environment

This theme discusses:

The state of Australias cities and towns

The impacts of population and economic growth

The impacts of climate change on urban environments

Management across juristictions


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Antarctic Environment

This theme looks at:

The global importance of the Antarctic environment

The terrestrial ecosystems resulting from human activity

The significance of climate change in the region


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Learning Activity

Access the current SoE Report from the website


https://soe.environment.gov.au/themes-all

Complete the following Qs from pg. 256 in analyzing each of


the key themes.

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