New Zealand’s environmental reporting series: Our atmosphere and climate 2020
New Zealand's environmental reporting series: Our atmosphere and climate 2020 builds on the statistics and stories in Our atmosphere and climate 2017 and Environment Aotearoa 2019. The report documents significant changes to New Zealand’s climate that mirror the changes being observed around the world.
This series is co-published by Stats NZ and the Ministry for the Environment.
Our atmosphere and climate 2020
See the indicators for Our atmosphere and climate 2020.
About the report
Our atmosphere and climate 2020 continues the second cycle of environmental reporting by Stats NZ and the Ministry for the Environment. It updates Our atmosphere and climate 2017 and the fifth theme ‘Our changing climate’ from Environment Aotearoa 2019, which was the most recent report on the state of the environment as a whole.
The 2020 report explores our changing climate in five chapters that show how our climate is changing, why these changes are occurring, and how the changing climate is beginning to affect the things we care about. The report discusses:
- the make-up of our greenhouse gas emissions and the high-level forces driving them
- the many changes in temperature and rainfall that are already being observed in New Zealand, as well as how they are affecting our environment
- the diverse ways climate change is starting to affect the wellbeing of New Zealanders, with a particular emphasis on how Māori identity is threatened by environmental changes, including a reduced ability to manaaki or care for visitors
- the implications for climate and wellbeing if the current emissions and warming trends continue.
