Those fearing that the Albanese government would water down the threat of global warming in its long-awaited Climate Risk Assessment report should be reassured.

The report, published on Monday morning, makes for horrifying reading.

The clock is ticking on Australia’s climate change response.Credit: Marija Ercegovac

It paints a picture of a nation facing escalating climate risks that have already been realised and that will be felt by every Australian, particularly those living on the outskirts of major cities or in the far north.

“No Australian community will be immune from climate risks that will be cascading, compounding and concurrent,” Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said during a press conference after the report’s release.

“It’s important that we don’t gild the lily or downplay its impacts in any way. We have to be honest to the Australian people.”

The report used 1.2 degrees of warming as a baseline, though most scientists now agree that Australia has already warmed by 1.5 degrees since the industrial period due to greenhouse gas........

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