MORE than 60 community climate groups have written an open letter to Climate Change Minister Penny Wong demanding the federal government toughen its stance on greenhouse emissions.
The letter calls on the government to scrap its planned emissions trading scheme because its 5-15 per cent 2020 reduction target is “appallingly low”.
Bushfires that have scorched Australia’s Victoria state released millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide and forest fires could become a growing source of carbon pollution as the planet warms, a top scientist said on Thursday.
Mark Adams of the University of Sydney said global warming could trigger a vicious cycle in which forests could stop becoming sinks of CO2, further accelerating the rise of the planet-warming gas in the atmosphere.
On Saturday 7 February 2009, Australia experienced its worst natural disaster in more than 100 years, when catastrophic bushfires killed more than 200 people and destroyed more than 1800 homes in Victoria, Australia. These fires occurred on a day of unprecedented high temperatures in south-east Australia, part of a heat wave that started 10 days earlier, and a record dry spell.
This has been written from Melbourne, Australia, exactly one week after the fires, just enough time to pause and reflect on this tragedy and the extraordinary weather that led to it. First, I want to express my sincere sympathy to all who have lost family members or friends and all who have suffered through this disaster.
There has been very high global media coverage of this natural disaster and, of course, speculation on the possible role of climate change in these fires. So, did climate change cause these fires? The simple answer is “No!” Climate change did not start the fires. Unfortunately, it appears that one or more of the fires may have been lit by arsonists, others may have started by accident and some may have been started by fallen power lines, lightning or other natural causes.
Maybe there is a different way to phrase that question: In what way, if any, is climate change likely to have affected these bush fires?
VICTORIA is likely to come under the influence of another El Nino within the next three years, exacerbating the drought and the likelihood of bushfires, a senior Bureau of Meteorology climate scientist says.
Australia is at risk of more tragedies such as the Victorian bushfires if the Federal Government does not reassess its approach to global warming, says the peak firefighters union.
United Firefighters Union of Australia national secretary Peter Marshall has written an open letter to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Victorian Premier John Brumby, on behalf of Australia’s 13,000 firefighters.
IT IS only a couple of years since scientists first told us we could expect a new order of fires in south-eastern Australia, fires of such ferocity they would engulf the towns in their path.
And here they are. The fires of Saturday were not “once in 1000 years” or even “once in 100 years” events, as our political leaders keep repeating. They were the face of climate change.
All forms of infrastructure in Australia including electricity, dams, roads and even footpaths will be severely affected by climate change, a new report has found.
Conservationists are warning that 10 of Australia’s iconic places will be lost without a commitment to reduce carbon pollution by a third by 2020.
RESEARCHERS, academics and business leaders have formed a new group in South Australia to protect and manage wildlife in the face of climate change.
UNIONS are looking to change industrial laws to allow employees to strike over climate-change issues
Australia could face the biggest climate change challenges of any developed country, says its Environment Minister Peter Garrett.
New Zealand is required to take an active global leadership role on the environment but must start with its own backyard first, Prime Minister Helen Clark said today.
Stretching from southern Queensland to the South Australian coast, the area covers one-seventh of Australia. It includes some of the country’s best grazing and cropping land, and its $9 billion agricultural industry grows an important proportion of the nation’s food.
But the river systems are in crisis, threatening the environmental health of the region and in turn those industries that rely on a flourishing river system.
Climate Watch