The government-commissioned study found Australia could be hit by stronger cyclones, more heatwaves, frequent cycles of prolonged droughts followed by heavy rains and an increase in severe weather events like bushfires and storms.

The annual national average temperature could increase by 0.4-2.0 degrees Celsius by 2030 and between one and six degrees by 2070.

But as the temperature rises, rainfall is likely to decrease up to 20 percent in much of the country within 25 years, including the agriculturally important eastern coastal states.

Australian farmers are currently battling a four-year drought and the water resources of every major mainland city are already under stress.

There is little doubt that there will be "some degree of climate change over the next 30 to 50 years irrespective of global or local efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions," the report said.

"Of these possible results, the most likely are for temperature change (including heatwaves and reductions in frosts), sea level rises and increases in cyclonic wind intensity," it said.

The areas likely to be worst affected are low-lying coastal centres, tropical and sub-tropical population centres, alpine regions, high-density farming areas, remote Aboriginal communities and southern areas facing acute water shortages.

If climate changes bring about more frequent storms and cyclones, "this could put some of our significant population and tourist centres like Cairns, Broome, Darwin and Townsville" in the north at increased risk, it said.

Australian Environment Minister Ian Campbell called on government and industry to think strategically about how to respond to projected climate change but rejected suggestions that the Kyoto protocol was the solution.

"Under Kyoto we're heading the wrong way," he told reporters.

"The real answer to global emissions reduction is in engaging China and India and the big (pollution) emitters that don't have commitments under Kyoto (and) finding practical ways to produce that technology that can see energy use go up but emissions go down."

Australia should develop technologies to produce energy from renewable sources such as solar and wind power, he said.

Campbell said while nuclear energy was unlikely to be adopted in Australia in the short-term, making the country's vast deposits of uranium available to other countries could help reduce dependence on technologies which produce greenhouse gases.

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