We know that climate change is happening. The challenge facing us is what we do about it: defining our role and identifying where we can have the most influence and impact.
Action on climate change is needed in both terms of mitigation (reducing our contribution to climate change through, for example, reducing carbon emissions) and adaptation (responding to the changes we are already seeing and will continue to encounter, even with a global reduction in future emissions).
New Zealand temperature records show an increase of around one degree Celsius over the last 100 years. Sea level rise is another indicator of warming temperatures. Recordings from Moturiki Island, off Mt Maunganui, show sea levels there have risen 11 centimetres since 1950, an average rise of 1.9 millimetres a year, which matches the average global increase.