Take a long hard look at yourself

Australia needs to take a good long hard look at itself. We refuse to do that.

Until we have open debate and visionary economic leadership, our path is headed towards an unsustainable economy trying to deal with climate induced downturn in agriculture and horticulture.

We will soon run out of resources. We will have sold off all our national icon companies. We will have degraded the land so much that we will be importing food at a much higher percentage and cost than we do now.

We continue to farm the land as if it was a constantly renewable resource. We till the soil until the nutrients are depleted and topsoil is cast to the wind.

We irrigate with continually falling water reserves until the land is turned into desert or salt plains. We fertilise until we kill off the reefs and damage the ecosystems there as chemicals leach into the oceans.

If crops fail year after year, are we growing the wrong crops? If cattle and sheep are over-grazing land, are they the most suitable livestock to use, given our climate?

Perhaps we should grow enough wheat, beef and lamb for domestic consumption and search for different export markets for other products.

We are currently mining and sending unrefined ore overseas, where the ore is converted and significant profit is made, but not by us.

We have missed out on the technological boom and the likes of India, China, Korea and Japan have been the ones who have made considerable advances.

Without significant support we will soon lose out on Australia’s prowess in medical developments. Already a lot of the profit there is made by overseas companies and we are losing our pool of talent to them.

We need to avoid the temptation to dwell on the notion of being the “lucky country”. Luck has nothing to do with it.

Climate change and finite mineral resources are what we have. What we do with what we have, will determine just what shape Australia is in the future. If things are not working now, why should we keep doing the same things into the future?

The challenges that face us that we need to learn how to efficiently and effectively deal with are:

Farming viably both economically and environmentally, not just selling raw material, but adding value to it, planning for gradual sales of minerals rather than selling as much as we can now, and looking for different ways to use the land we have that will preserve it for future generations.

We need to look at other options for export, support pioneers, inventors and developers of new technologies in many fields to avoid the brain drain., looking at safe sustainable ways of generating energy.

Perhaps climate change brings new opportunities. Fossil fueled power is not a long-term solution not only because of pollution and waste, but because it is a finite resource.

Educate children to be able to manage their environment and the social conditions that await them.

In a 100 years’ time, will students look at Australia as a prime example of a nation that buried its head in the sand and did little, despite overwhelming scientific evidence.

The generation who is currently making the decisions and who appear to be looking at only the next election, will never know and will not have to bear any of blame.

Greg Tuck, Warragul parties. This may be true in Australia, but on the other hand the majority of Australian liberals and their stated policy is that climate change is real and requires urgent action.

It also should be pointed out that on the same day the Liberals announced the Adani mine was going ahead the English conservative government leader Theresa May announced they would reach zero net UK emissions by 2050. Most conservative governments and their followers around the world believe in the science.

He then says that “believers claim that 30,000 scientists agree that man-made warming is a fact”. This statement is incorrect.

The reverse is the truth. In fact several years ago a list of 30,000 scientists was published who did not believe in global warming.

The reference from Wikipedia states: "This is a list of scientists who have made statements that conflict with the scientific consensus on global warming as summarised by the IPCC and endorsed by other scientific bodies. A minority are climatologists. Nearly all publishing climate scientists (97–98 per cent) support the consensus on anthropogenic climate change”. In fact the great majority had no knowledge of climate science and included dentists, doctors, tecnicians etc.

Unabashed Mr McLean goes on to say that “the claim that 30,000 scientists agree that climate change is real is simply a lie”. It is a lie but they actually said the opposite.

He claims that sceptics believe that CO2 has no effect on climate. Only the most scientifically illiterate claim that. The theory of greenhouse gases was published over 80 years ago and all the research since has confirmed the very close relationship between CO2 and climate.

In fact the most compelling evidence about the effect of CO2 on climate is the long term climate change. The Australian Academy of Science report in 2015, showed graphs comparing temperatures and CO2 levels over 800,000 thousand years. The estimates are made by carbon dating ice cores. The correlation between CO2 levels and average global temperatures is compelling and extraordinary. Over the last 80 years the rise in global temperature CO2 has exactly followed the rise in temperature. But the fact that should frighten everyone is that the rate of rise in CO2 and the rate of rise in temperature is unprecedented, nothing like it has occurred in the last 800,000 years.

Climate change science doesn’t rely on “big names”, it relies totally on the evidence based research by climate scientists. 97 per cent of climate scientists support and endorse current beliefs in climate change. Celebrities that are deeply concerned about the issue will try to help if they can.

Finally Mr McLean disparages the weather bureau implying that they can’t even predict the weather. Is there anyone here that doesn’t regularly check the bureau forecasts, whose reliability in predicting severe heat waves, dangerous storms, violent winds is extraordinary.

Climate change is based on the research and opinions of climate scientists. 97 per cent of them believe the published science. Any readers who would like to know the facts please read the Australian Academy of science report www.science.org.au/files/userfiles/learning/d ocuments/climate-change-r.pdf.

Brett Forge, Warragul

Huge bouquets to the Warragul View ladies and the people from Mawarra who volunteered at our open garden over the last three weeks.

With this support you helped make the last three weekends possible and a success, unfortunately the weather was against us and all the other open gardens. One gains so much from giving and great friendships are formed though this giving.