Not Like They Didn’t Have It Coming

Australia – the untamed Outback, the Great Barrier Reef and some of the busiest coal pits on the planet.

Long on coal, short on oil, Aussie leaders like the munchkin Howard have fought tooth and nail against calls for climate change action. Now, it seems, the hens are coming home to roost.

As you may be aware, Australia has been staggered by a recent, multi-year drought. The Guardian reports on a new Australian study that shows this is only the beginning:

“A new report by Australia’s top scientists predicts that the country will be hit by a 10-fold increase in heatwaves and that droughts will almost double in frequency and become more widespread because of climate change.

The scientific projections envisage rainfall continuing to decline in a country that is already one of the hottest and driest in the world. It says that about 50% of the decrease in rainfall in south-western Australia since the 1950s has probably been due to greenhouse gases.

The analysis, commissioned by the government as part of a review of public funding to drought-stricken farmers, was published days after another report, by Professor Ross Garnaut, warned that Australia had to adopt a scheme for trading greenhouse gas emissions by 2010 or face the eventual destruction of sites including the Great Barrier Reef, the wetlands of Kakadu and the nation’s food bowl, the Murray-Darling Basin.

Yesterday’s report revealed that not only would droughts occur more often but that the area affected would be twice as large as now. The proportion of the country having exceptionally hot years could increase from 5% each year to as much as 95%, according to the projections.

The report says rainfall in Australia has been declining since the 1950s and about half of that decrease is due to climate change. It says the current thresholds for farmers to claim financial assistance are out of date because hotter and drier weather will become the norm.”

The report is expected to add pressure for new prime minister Kevin Rudd to act on greenhouse gas emissions. Many Australians who initially supported Rudd’s environmental message have recently lost their appetite for strong climate change measures.

Australia may be one of those countries that will write the textbook for how to respond to the challenges of global warming and what lies in store if we don’t.

 

Australia Warns Visiting Canada Dangerous?

Australia’s “Smart Traveler” web site now lists Canada as a destination where visitors should “exercise caution.”

We’re listed as somewhat dangerous due to the risk of terrorism, snow and ice storms, avalanches in BC and forest fires that can supposedly erupt any time.

This assessment is coming from a country that is awash in lethal threats. Australia hosts 17 of the world’s deadliest snakes including the Inland Taipan; a gaggle of nasty bugs including the Funelweb Spider, the Box Jellyfish and Blue-Ringed Octopus, 165-species of sharks, saltwater and freshwater crocodiles, droughts, floods and wildfires.

I wonder if the Aussies are warning potential visitors to steer clear of their own country? It would make a lot of sense, wouldn’t it?

 

The Last Days of the Troll Down Under

It looks increasingly like the end of the road for Australian prime minister John Howard. His anything-but Liberal Party is expected to be turfed out to make way for the Labour Party when Aussies go to the polls on Saturday.

True to his little neo-con heart, the Troll has resorted to the far right’s favourite tool – fear. He warned voters this week of “enormous risks” of changing government, implying some sort of security and economic cataclysm would surely result if Australians chose a full-size prime minister.

So what’s the new guy, Kevin Rudd, promising if he’s elected? For starters, he’ll pull Australian troops out of Iraq. He might even use those bods to increase his country’s forces in Afghanistan. He’s also promised to sign on to Kyoto and to take a leading role in the push for carbon-emission cuts at next months’ Bali conference.

Rudd is also expected to steer Australia away from the United States and more toward Asia.