More fire danger days in southern and eastern Australia will occur as temperatures rise, while swollen seas are adding to coastal area risks, according to the latest CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) State of the Climate report.

Australia experienced its three warmest springs on record from 2013 to last year, and the number of days per year above 35 degrees has risen in recent decades, except in parts of the north.

“We’ve already seen an increase in fire weather and a longer fire season across southern and eastern Australia since the 1970s,” bureau Manager of Climate Monitoring Karl Braganza said.

“In these regions the number of days with weather conducive to fire is likely to increase.”

Winter and spring rainfall is projected to decrease across southern continental Australia, with more time spent in drought.

Southwest Australia’s May-July rainfall has declined about 19% since 1970. In the continental southeast, April-October growing season rainfall has fallen about 11% since the mid-1990s.

“The findings reinforce [our] long-standing call for governments to better protect communities from known and projected natural hazards,” Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) spokesman Campbell Fuller told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

ICA is seeking significantly increased government investment in mitigation such as flood levees and greater resilience in areas exposed to extreme weather and natural disasters such as cyclones, flood and bushfires.

It also wants improved town planning to reduce inappropriate development in vulnerable areas.

CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology’s biennial report says rising greenhouse gas levels are acting like a blanket, keeping heat in the Earth’s lower atmosphere.

Global average annual carbon dioxide levels are set to top 400 parts per million (ppm) this year, up from 278ppm before 1750 and the highest in 2 million years.

Human activity, mainly burning fossil fuels, is making the “overwhelming contribution” to this increase, the report says.

Rising sea levels around Australia are amplifying the effects of high tides and storm surges.

Since 1993 rates of sea level rise to the north, west and southeast of Australia have been higher than the global average, while rises on the central-east and southern coasts have been closer to average.

About one-third of the global sea level rise of more than 20cm since the late 19th century is attributed to oceans expanding as they warm, with the remainder due to shrinking glaciers and polar ice, and changes in the amount of water stored on land.