Michael McGuire: Australia must lift its game and properly address climate change
It's time we stop embarrassing ourselves on the world stage and tackle the “code red” climate crisis like adults, writes Michael McGuire.
Opinion
Don't miss out on the headlines from Opinion. Followed categories will be added to My News.
And that’s all the sport news. Now let’s look at the weather. In Greece, the most extreme heatwave in 30 years, with temperatures topping 45C, has sparked almost 600 fires in the past week. The heatwave has spread across Greece, Turkey and Italy, and 12 people have died.
Further north, in Russia, enormous fires have been burning in Siberia. So far north are these fires, the smoke has reached the North Pole, which the Russian weather monitoring institute Rosgidromet called “unprecedented’’.
Forest fires in Yakutia, Russia’s coldest area, have burned through 3.4 million hectares.
In California, the second-largest wildfire in the state’s history is burning. The fire covers 1980sq km, has destroyed 370 homes in the town of Greenville and is threatening another 14,000.
Meanwhile, in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou, more than 300 people died in floods after record rainfall, including 20cm in one hour, hit the city. In a three-day deluge, Zhengzhou almost matched its annual rainfall average.
Another 189 people died last month after floods in Belgium and Germany. The floods were the worst natural disaster to hit Germany in 50 years. Koln-Stammheim railway station recorded 154mm of rain in 24 hours. The previous high-water mark was 95mm.
All this has been predicted for many years. Climate change was always going to bring more dangerous and damaging extreme weather events. More heatwaves, more droughts, fiercer storms and bigger floods.
We know all this in Australia. We have experienced the heatwaves and the droughts. Been terrified as bushfires burned through vast swathes of the country. And we know there is more coming.
But it’s also not too late to avoid the worst. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its latest report this week. It’s fair to say it’s not a cheerful read but it’s not without hope.
For the first time the IPCC said human activity was “unequivocally’’ warming the atmosphere, oceans and land. It said the report was a “code red for humanity’’.
“The scale of recent changes across the climate system as a whole and the present state of many aspects of the climate system are unprecedented over many centuries to many thousands of years,’’ the report states.
Under all emission scenarios temperatures will increase until at least mid-century and global warming of 1.5C and 2C will be exceeded this century unless there are deep cuts in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse-gas emissions.
The climate can still be stabilised, the scientists say. And there is still an opportunity to limit the worst if action is taken now.
Which means it’s time for the Australian government to cast off its lethargy and ignorance and become serious about helping to save the planet. It’s time we stop embarrassing ourselves on the world stage and behave like adults and not petulant children.
A UN report last month said Australia ranked last out of 193 countries in action taken to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.
Australia has long been a laggard in this area, held hostage by those on the fringes. Those who think science and facts are for other people.
So, now it’s up to Prime Minister Scott Morrison to demonstrate some leadership. To firmly commit to net-zero emissions before 2050. To do more than cut emissions by between 26 per cent and 28 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030. Other developed countries are looking at cuts of between 40 per cent and 63 per cent by then.
On that score, his performance on Tuesday wasn’t encouraging, apparently placing all his hope on technology. Technology will play its role. but it has to be more than that.
We need to change approaches to coal and other fossil fuels. We need more renewable energy and more efficient use of energy in homes, industry and transport. To encourage the take-up of electric cars without ridiculous scare campaigns about how they will “end the weekend’’, as Morrison did. It’s time to stop kicking this can down the road. We’re out of time.
If Morrison has any aspirations to rebuild his reputation as a leader, this would be a good place to start.
More Coverage
Penbo: Hinkley ‘incident’ exposes Australia as a snowflake nation
Australians like to think of themselves as a tough bunch with a sense of humour, writes David Penberthy. But that’s not reality.
Maiden: Albo’s pressure inducing Tarzan threat has no trigger
With the Prime Minister accused of threatening to call a double dissolution election, there’s one problem, he doesn’t have a trigger, writes Samantha Maiden.