Regions
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More than 80% of the region’s population is located in the major centres of Bundaberg, Hervey Bay, Gympie, Maryborough and Kingaroy. The remaining residents live in predominantly rural shires.
On the coast, extreme inundation and erosion events could become more frequent with rising sea levels. Flooding, due to more intense storms, could affect water, sewerage, stormwater, transport and communications infrastructure. Inland, harsher fire weather and the impact of hotter days and extreme heat events will affect infrastructure. Tourism is a significant industry in the region with a number of iconic ecosystems and the key tourism areas of Fraser Island, Hervey Bay and South Burnett. The tourism industry is reliant on healthy reef and rainforest environments. The degradation of the reef will not only be a loss of great intrinsic value, it will also come at a great cost to the tourism industry. Increased temperatures may lead to less water for agriculture, heat damage to horticultural crops and stress on livestock. Conditions may increase plant diseases, weeds and pests, and allow some pest species to move southwards into areas where they are currently excluded. |