Thread: Climate Change and our Land of Fire, Flood and Drought.

Why would we want to be followers on the world stage, when we could be leaders in terms of addressing climate change?

The whole "nah nah I'm not doing it because you're not doing it" attitude, is exactly why the world's in this predicament.

If our leaders changed their tune, future tech investment in Australia would skyrocket and Australian talent and innovation would be better enabled to prosper. You never know, it might even revive a motoring manufacturing industry here - focused around EV's and renewable energy. It's the next 'mining boom', but we're ignoring it as a nation, with our heads stuck in the sand, saying "if China has coal fired power, we can too." The faster we transition to renewable energy the better off we'll be.

It's time to truly become the clever country, not the 'me too' country.

400 years ago, Queen Elisabeth the 1st, during the winter months, regularly took walks on the frozen River Thames.

Also at tha time, during the winter months, Sunday markets were held on the frozen River Thames.

within a 100 years, the Thames no long froze enough during the winter myths to allow the markets to held on the river.

Again, do you think if they had reduced the vehicle emissions, back then, that they could have continued to hold their markets on a frozen River Thames?

Originally Posted by drivesafe

Some 700 or so years ago, there was a 39 year drought here in Australia.

The drought decimated the Aboriginal population.

Do you think if they had cut their vehicle exhaust emissions back then, that the drought would not have been so severe?

IMO you've hit the nail on the head, but probably not in the way you intended.

'Drought' is actually the norm on this continent. Which is why water conservation is so vital. We have a tiny population in global terms, yet we are constantly on the brink of running out of water. This is primarily because we don't use it efficiently. The majority of us still flush our toilets with drinking water for goodness sake!

But it's also because the continent of Australia is a very dry place. The notion of drought comes from the mother country, where long dry periods are rare. It's abundantly clear that this is not the case here. Australia is not England, or Europe, or America, or Asia.

Australia is predominantly a hot dry continent, except in the tropics. Climate change is causing all kinds of changes including heatwaves, floods, etc. Which aspects of this are occuring naturally or as a result of human induced climate change is actually irrelevant and just semantics.

It's very clear that the burning of fossil fuels is contributing and speeding climate change up. Anything we can do to slow it down or reverse the impacts of climate change will benefit us all.

Originally Posted by Zeros

The majority of us still flush our toilets with drinking water for goodness sake!

As they do almost every where else in the world. The exception being eco communities.

Now this flushed water is not wasted - on coastal areas where rain is reasonably plentiful yes used water ends up in the ocean but not inland where water is taken from rivers - used in cities, towns and elsewhere and finds its way back into rivers as treated effulent.

Take Canberra for example - it takes its water from the rivers that flow into the Murrumbidgee - it is then used in all its forms and most ends back in the river downstream to be used again by towns, irrigators and other ventures over and over down stream (yes obviously a lot is lost through evaporation). However towns like Canberra actually put more water back into the river overall than they take out because of all the hard surfaces like house roofs, roads, buildings etc that generate storm water that would normally soak into the ground.

So yes in the ideal world grey water etc should be used to flush toilets but it is not absolutely essential for inland (and coastal) toens and cities. Inland water used by towns down river has been recycled many times over.

Garry

Originally Posted by trout1105

IF the Chinese are doing more than we are then how come they still have a massive smog problem and we don't??

Because their economy is absolutely enormous and we are tiny by comparison.

I have been around long enough to remember weather extremes ….like the shoalhaven river floods in 1974 and a few big ones afterwards ( 6mtrs)...………...yet any flood over 4 mtrs seems to break a record of some sort when it happens.
I still remember we were going to a ice age when I was at school ,,,the experts were certain.
I still remember my high school teacher telling me if every one in the world used toilet paper there would be no forests left...…( the world population as more than doubled since then and we still have forests.)
I still remember we were to run out of crude oil by the year 2000.
On and on it goes
The people who think they really care about the planet will not tackle human population increase, because to a true thinking person knows this is the real enemy and if it continues we will fight with our selves for the last resources using more resources to do so and do damage to the planet.( and our selves)
All the National park signs and rules and world agreements will not stop this.
I see the suburban sprawl destroying more real-estate every day.
Polar bears now seem to be doing OK( funny that )...……….but the story is very much still out there they are not .
We built so called greener cars, which are not durable as the older ones with more plastic in them which doesn't really break down well and we are expected to replace them often, yet you can get different answers depending on the inputs.
My 101 landy rover is pushing 40 years old running on LPG with durable alloy and steel components etc.
the energy/ pollution life cycle is in the real world no worse than a 10 year old worn out modern vehicle if true energy /co2 manufacturing cycles are looked at....( I can see the time I will not be allowed to drive it because of its so called carbon out put etc)
True greenies will tackle the increasing population...….the other pretend greenies will not because they know it is not a popular political subject and will
make a statement like a new Koala bear national park in the south of Sydney...…..the bears were doing just fine in crown land and state forest which was never under danger and why the bears are there.
I know of Two real world cycles we live in.
The carbon cycle.
The bull**** cycle.
Facts are the yellow /orange ball we see in the sky seems to have more effect with what goes on with this planets temps that what humans will ever do...……...something which the scientists seem to agree on.
We live on the most weather unpredictable planet in the solar system ……..a known fact.

Ouch- Drought to Floods.

Drought-hardened graziers heartbroken as cattle die in floods - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Originally Posted by drivesafe

Some 700 or so years ago, there was a 39 year drought here in Australia.

The drought decimated the Aboriginal population.

Do you think if they had cut their vehicle exhaust emissions back then, that the drought would not have been so severe?

Fascinating Science rocks "Antarctic ice core study reveals Australia’s 39 year mega drought" 1997-2010 the big dry was the butt kicker we all remember of course.

The cool Dr Vance is studying climate change not a climate skeptic. Their is a big difference between climate and weather The weather in Australia has always been Hot, Dry or floods.

Toss in horrible fires. Its 10 years tomorrow since Victorian Black Saturday Fires. My basic maths puts that date right in the Big Dry. Commiserations to anyone affected. Life Line is 131114 if needed.