Monday, January 17, 2011

Editorial in The Age: Of droughts, flooding rains and climate change

Interesting editorial in The Age yesterday: Of droughts, flooding rains and climate change. Or as the subheading states: "We respond well to an emergency, but global warming is an emergency too."

An excerpt:

"The loss of life and property in Queensland and the resilience of those affected have gripped Australians. Victorians, too, pulled together during the bushfires, and will again during the current floods. We are good at emergencies, revealing ourselves a compassionate and resolute people. Yet dealing with longer-term threats is just as hard, and calls for different skills - political courage, patient explanation, refusing to be thrown by denialists and the self-interested. The time has come to devise a policy framework that will reduce our carbon footprint at a national and individual level."
Well worth a read as we begin to think about what we can do in the short and long term to prevent future disasters and adapt and build our resilience to those that will occur. I hope to have more to say on these topics in the near future.

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