Comments on: “It is, sadly, probably too late to save much of Australia”

By: Paul Gilding thinks there’s hope. Do you? « Incite – Leading Sustainability

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:05:04 +0000

[...] becoming the poster child for the unpleasant effects of climate change is also well worth a read: “It is, sadly, probably too late to save much of Australia”. Apparently, Australians are in steadfast denial about what’s happening to them. (Hey, we can [...]

By: and then the world ended. « The Cubby House’s Weblog

and then the world ended. « The Cubby House’s Weblog — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 21:19:04 +0000

[...] as Paul Gilding writes, this isn’t a joke. Something like 100,000 tonnes of topsoil stretching 1600km long and 400km [...]

By: Arthur Josephson

Arthur Josephson — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 04:45:11 +0000

I’ve just returned to Australia after seven years abroad. It has been seven years largely ignorant of Australian media so I judge hesitantly. Many thanks for your article it helped me begin updating myself on the current state here. My first impression on returning is strong surprise at how little has been accomplished in the climate change agenda here. One would expect us to be strong pioneers, innovators and consensus builders; especially when one considers that we are such an extreme example in terms of drought, bushfire, top soil erosion, and that many countries in our immediate sphere are island nations who are already suffering under sea level changes.

Perhaps climate change is Australia’s version of America’s healthcare problem? i.e. Change is in the direct and obvious future benefit for all our citizenry however their is so much money in lobbying from parties benefiting from the status quo (largely our fossil fuels sector and agriculture, but the short-term interests of diverse elements of industry and society) that debate can be sidelined and action undermined. From an external perspective on both countries situations it seems impossible that such resistance is effective, yet it still determines the very paradigm through which media, discourse and policy is shaped.

Many thanks for your pieces, always a stimulating, concerning and enjoyable perspective.

Arthur

By: Anders Welin

Anders Welin — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:56:39 +0000

Hi Paul. Unfortunately I don’t think Australia is the only place where Climate change patterns are to be seen.
Also in Europe the weather is getting more extreme. Cyprus has water shortage and do not have access to fresh water every day. In Sweden we have experienced one of the warmest September months, ever. Autumn is delayed.
In the Philippines they received (I think) 41 cm rain in 24 hours. That is the equivalent of 4,1 meters of snow!
As you know heat is a catalyst in many processes in nature. The see getting warmer will make hurricanes and typhoons more common and stronger. I would say that the weather is behaving as it should do in 30 years from now, but it’s doing it right now! Let’s hope that further climate change is still possible to avoid….A lot of people needs to be awaken.

Best regards

Anders

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 03:33:24 +0000

The FFDI for 1939 was 100. It was established as a baseline by McArthur in the 1960’s.

By: “It is, sadly, probably too late to save much of Australia” (Google / Paul GLIDING) « Desertification

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 19:33:31 +0000

[...] http://paulgilding.com/cockatoo-chronicles/toolateforaustralia.html [...]

By: liz thornton

liz thornton — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 02:54:05 +0000

I may not be an expert in climate change however i was alive at the time when we were chucking C.F.C’s into the atmosphere . We believed that that was causing the hole in the Ozone layer!We stopped producing C.F.C’s didn’t we and things improved didn’t they? What on earth is the problem for people believing that WE are affecting our climate? How does the economy benefit from everything stopping due to severe weather conditions linked to climate change linked to burning fossil fuels? Please tell me that Kevin Rudd has some diabollically clever scheme that he will not share until he gets to Copenhagen so that he can keep up this impression of having a brain bigger than the whole of the planet!
Go Kevin

By: Stephen Klaber

Stephen Klaber — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:23:33 +0000

The process of desertification has multiple causes everywhere. But with great consistency, the largest cause of desertification is aquatic and semi aquatic weeds. Cumbungi, which we call cattail in the USA, is a dessication machine and a siltation machine. You also have Mimosa sucking your waters dry. Look at Lake Chad in Africa. An infestation of Typha Australis (cumbungi) from East to West that is finally meeting some resistance has shut down its Eastern Tributaries to almost nothing. There are millions of Hectares of Typha waiting to be harvested and who knows how much silt that must be cleared before streams and lakes function there again. And all of it is biofuel feedstock. In some places, the weed that is the problem is water hyacinth or phragmites or papyrus reeds. Clear the wetlands of these weeds, and they will again moisten the drylands. The silt that the weeds have deposited can be used to rehabilitate damaged soil or to fight erosion. It must be cleared, so that lakes and streams regain contact with the ground water. The Carbon stuff is very important, but the water system is even more so. We can win there.

By: salamander

salamander — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:07:37 +0000

We are still in “business as usual” mode – climate change is popular with the people so some politicians are making the effort, but I think many consider it’s all a bit of a lark. Introducing climate change policies seems to be more of a way to get votes rather than achieve anything. And there are certainly parts of Australia that have suffered from dramatic change in recent times. Whether they will recover may depend on technology that hasn’t been thought of yet, and political will.

By: Roger Mulligan

Roger Mulligan — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 06:36:52 +0000

Hi Paul,
Whilst it wasn’t a personal request to know what I think ( :-) ) never the less I’m compelled to add my bit..

Re dust storms.. It’s just another example of all the good stuff from the country ending up in the city.. Situation normal.. (you can take the boy out of the country….)

Re: Climate change… Isn’t this just primary school science 101.. “God” takes the carbon out of the air over millions of years using solar power (gotta luv photosynthesis).. Using effectively millions of times the surface area of the planet to do it.. (trees, vegetation but mostly plankton… now I’m in love with phytoplankton).. During this time the planet is pretty much uninhabitable by mammals.. (or anything much other than plants for that matter… sure nothing but plankton lives in the oceans).. Man arrives and puts the CO2 that “God” stored safely away underground, back into the air.. (Well some of it… ) over only 200 years.. (do the math.. rate of original absorption vs. rate of release.. do a graph.. Scares the shit out of me to see it that way..)

I dunno what’s going to happen but it can’t be good.. No one in their right mind can think the environment can remain stable during this rate of change..

If he exists.. The Devil must be laughing himself silly…