Soil Erosion
Climate change is expected to impact soils through changes in both soil erosion and rainfall erosivity. Change in erosion can have significant implications for natural assets, agricultural lands and water quality.
We have used the projections from NARCliM to provide updated information on the projected impacts of climate change on soil erosion and rainfall erosivity in the near future (2030) and far future (2070).
Research results
Percent change in annual rainfall erosivity for near (left) and far (right) futures
- NSW is projected to undergo an increase in erosion on both the near and far futures.
- The areas most affected are those with already high erosion risk, namely the Great Dividing Range, Central Coast, North Coast and Hunter regions.
- There are areas with significant projected erosion impacts e.g. the Hunter region will lose up to 195 tonnes of soil per hectare per year, highlighting the importance of groundcover maintenance and soil management in this region.
Download information
This document provides a summary of the climate change impacts on soil erosion and rainfall erosivity for NSW from the Soil Erosion Technical Report
PDF - 5.9 mb
The Rainfall Erosivity and Hillslope Erosion Technical Report is a detailed report on the methods and results of the rainfall erosivity and soil erosion climate change impact research
PDF - 5.6 mb
This folder contains 10 maps of multi model mean changes in annual and seasonal rainfall erosivity for 2030 and 2070
ZIP - 9.6 mb
This folder contains 10 data files of multi model mean changes in annual and seasonal rainfall erosivity for 2030 and 2070
ZIP - 55.4 mb
What is soil erosion and rainfall erosivity?
Soil erosion is the actual loss of soil and can have significant impacts on the availability of nutrients and organic matter in soil.
Rainfall erosivity is a measure of the ability of rainfall to cause erosion and is largely a function of the amount of rainfall and the intensity of rainfall.
