Climate change means hard times for Australia

Vanguard November 2013 p. 2
Bill F.

The draft Fifth Assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) delivers a sharp warning to the people of Australia who are facing a future with more frequent extreme weather events, fires and floods and rising sea levels.

The report, compiled from the work of more than 600 scientists from 190 countries, states that it is 95% certain that the rise in global temperature has been caused by the burning of fossil fuels and the release of greenhouse gases over the last century, and that this increase has accelerated since 1970.

Air temperature has risen marginally, although the ten years to 2010 was the warmest decade on record.

However, the main impact has been on the oceans which absorb more than 90% of the heat trapped by greenhouse gases. Arctic ice is disappearing at the rate of 4% per decade, and glaciers and permafrost regions are also shrinking at an unprecedented rate. Sea level has risen 19 cm since 1900, with the rate of rise increasing in the past decade.

Carbon dioxide absorption into the oceans is causing a rise in acidification that, along with ocean warming, is already affecting marine life and fish stocks.

What it means for Australia

As a country where much of the population, infrastructure and industries are located around the coastal plains and rivers, the impact on Australia from rising sea levels could be severe.

For example, Australian scientists estimate that a rise in sea level of just half a metre would endanger many coastal roads and marine facilities. A further increase up to 1.1 metres would threaten more than 250,000 homes. The IPCC report states that sea levels could rise by 82 cm by the end of the century, or worse-case, up to 98 cm.
 

 

The report noted that rising temperatures and prolonged hot periods in Australia would bring more destructive bushfires, and would result in more fatalities due to heat stress and poor air quality, particularly among the elderly. Other issues, such as agricultural production and disease control, both human and animal, would become more critical.

Capitalism can’t save the planet

The only way out this mess is to make massive and prolonged reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, and commence a rapid transition to clean, sustainable sources of energy.

However, the fossil fuel monopolies at the heart of global imperialism have other ideas. They plan to squeeze every last drop of oil and coal out of planet Earth – their profits come before any consideration of the future for humanity.

They use miserable puppets like Abbott to obliterate any rational discussion of the scientific evidence, and to obstruct any initiatives to build new clean energy industries.

Only a system that puts people before profits –socialism – can deal with the transition to a clean energy future.

As for Australia, there will be hard times, but there will also be struggle as the people demand action to roll back the worst effects of climate change, to rein in the fossil fuel monopolies and ultimately expel them, and to re-build the ‘lucky country’.