Kakadu

Kakadu National Park is one of Australia's most iconic cultural and environmental regions. It's renowned for its vast wetlands and cultural heritage, including Aboriginal rock art and archeological sites dating back thousands of years.Located in the wet-dry tropics of the Northern Territory, Kakadu stretches almost 20,000 square kilometers between the Alligator Rivers. The region is a rich tapestry of billabongs, rivers, floodplains, mudflats, mangroves, open woodlands and a sandstone escarpment and plateau.

Kakadu's low-lying freshwater wetlands make up 90% the park's coastal zones, and these are under direct threat from climate change.

The wetlands provide important habitat for birds, amphibians and reptiles. In the dry season, an estimated 3 million waterbirds of more than 60 species congregate in the park. And it's not only birds which flock to the area; the park hosts also 165,000 human visitors a year.

Kakadu's wetlands are vulnerable to even small variations in sea level rise. Already salt-water intrusion is a problem, but this situation is about to get much worse. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts a sea level rise of between 9 and 88cm by 2100. If the sea level rise is 50cm, these wetlands will become incredibly salty; a rise of more than 88cm will see the wetlands become a mangrove forest.

Scientists believe these predicted impacts of climate change will not only destroy habitat and devastate the tourism industry, but will make the region unpleasant for habitation. Sadly, climate change could become a serious problem for the indigenous people who have lived continuously in the region for 50,000 years.

Published by The Age, "Ecosystems Under Threat" explores the effects of global warming on Kakadu.