He said similar events would likely happen with increasing frequency.
“We can’t expect extreme events to increase in a smooth linear fashion, they could jump up at an extremely fast rate at any time, these are the risks we are taking as climate change continues,” Professor Steffen said.
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He said studies had shown that Australians were five times more likely to face physical displacement due to climate disasters than their European counterparts.
“But it’s important to note our Pacific Island neighbours face 100 times the displacement risk than Europeans. That displacement risk is only likely to increase for both them and for us,” he said.