Extract from The Guardian
The flora and fauna that have made Australia such a remarkable place
is under grave threat from a climate changing due to carbon emissions
While Australia
bakes through another hot, angry summer, its precious wildlife is
increasingly under threat, not just from the extreme weather of fires
and floods but by the growing reality of a changing climate.
It is getting hotter. Day by day, month by month, year by year – 2016 is confirmed as the hottest year on record globally, closely following the leads of 2015 and 2014 – and with summer in full swing in Australia we turn our minds and our national concerns to bushfires, ever more intense, and to extreme weather events, flash flooding, cyclonic winds, unexpected parching and flooding of our wide brown land.
And it is not just the Australian people who are feeling these stresses first hand, but some of the most unique wildlife to be found anywhere in the world.
For those who have had the privilege of watching a platypus swim, of holding a koala, of watching kangaroos bound across seemingly endless plateaus – you should be well aware that these special creatures face a very uncertain future. Climate change from unprecedented carbon emissions not only threaten the habitats of our unique animals and birds, but also challenges the very ability of them to survive.
This should be of concern to each and every one of us. Species lost, iconic animals threatened, wiped out, perhaps in a generation. This should provoke nothing short of shame in the hearts of people the world over.
So what we can be sure about?
Climate change is making Australia hotter. Hot days are happening more often while heatwaves are becoming hotter, longer and more frequent.
While it has been clear for many years that climate change is a major factor in intensifying heat, recent scientific advances now allow us to understand the extent of the impact on individual extreme events.
Climate change has significantly worsened recent extreme heat events in Australia. And the outlook just looks bleaker.
The work of some great scientists from this side of the planet emphasises the very real threat to our unique wildlife. In addition, the most recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated that native species are set to “suffer from range contractions, and some may face local or even global extinction … Koalas, gliders, quokkas, platypus and several species of birds and fish will all suffer from shrinking habitats as temperatures increase, even under the most optimistic scenarios.”
And it is not just our well known natural icons, it is the lesser known also. The golden-shouldered parrot, currently listed as endangered in Queensland, is only found in the southern and central Cape York Peninsula, and is now restricted to just two populations there – covering an area less than 2,000 sq km.
This rare and beautiful bird will be one of many species that will likely be affected by increased temperatures, fires and droughts across Northern Australia.
Then there is the little known Lumholtz’s tree kangaroo, a remarkable animal.
According to the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, global warming poses a very real threat to this species. They thrive in a high-altitude, cool rainforest as these areas provide the kangaroo with a cool environment, keeping their body temperatures down with access to moisture from dew and mist formed under the rainforest canopy. There can be little doubt that increased atmospheric temperatures will significantly impact these habitats.
Everywhere we turn we can see that our changing climate, and the extreme weather it delivers with a vengeance, is already having a profound and deeply disturbing impact on the flora and fauna that have made the Great Southern Land such a remarkable place - for travellers, for explorers, for discovery.
It is a sad fact that the very country that risks losing these special places, these special and unique forms of life, is also playing such a key role in warming the planet. Our export coal industry is being pushed to expand and expand, despite all the economics and science one can throw at our leaders.
So while other countries are winding down their coal use, Australia is attempting to ramp up our production and export of the product, all the while as we watch first-hand the immediate and long term damage coal and fossil fuels are wreaking on our planet, on people and on nature.
It is getting hotter. Day by day, month by month, year by year – 2016 is confirmed as the hottest year on record globally, closely following the leads of 2015 and 2014 – and with summer in full swing in Australia we turn our minds and our national concerns to bushfires, ever more intense, and to extreme weather events, flash flooding, cyclonic winds, unexpected parching and flooding of our wide brown land.
And it is not just the Australian people who are feeling these stresses first hand, but some of the most unique wildlife to be found anywhere in the world.
For those who have had the privilege of watching a platypus swim, of holding a koala, of watching kangaroos bound across seemingly endless plateaus – you should be well aware that these special creatures face a very uncertain future. Climate change from unprecedented carbon emissions not only threaten the habitats of our unique animals and birds, but also challenges the very ability of them to survive.
This should be of concern to each and every one of us. Species lost, iconic animals threatened, wiped out, perhaps in a generation. This should provoke nothing short of shame in the hearts of people the world over.
So what we can be sure about?
Climate change is making Australia hotter. Hot days are happening more often while heatwaves are becoming hotter, longer and more frequent.
While it has been clear for many years that climate change is a major factor in intensifying heat, recent scientific advances now allow us to understand the extent of the impact on individual extreme events.
Climate change has significantly worsened recent extreme heat events in Australia. And the outlook just looks bleaker.
The work of some great scientists from this side of the planet emphasises the very real threat to our unique wildlife. In addition, the most recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated that native species are set to “suffer from range contractions, and some may face local or even global extinction … Koalas, gliders, quokkas, platypus and several species of birds and fish will all suffer from shrinking habitats as temperatures increase, even under the most optimistic scenarios.”
And it is not just our well known natural icons, it is the lesser known also. The golden-shouldered parrot, currently listed as endangered in Queensland, is only found in the southern and central Cape York Peninsula, and is now restricted to just two populations there – covering an area less than 2,000 sq km.
This rare and beautiful bird will be one of many species that will likely be affected by increased temperatures, fires and droughts across Northern Australia.
Then there is the little known Lumholtz’s tree kangaroo, a remarkable animal.
According to the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, global warming poses a very real threat to this species. They thrive in a high-altitude, cool rainforest as these areas provide the kangaroo with a cool environment, keeping their body temperatures down with access to moisture from dew and mist formed under the rainforest canopy. There can be little doubt that increased atmospheric temperatures will significantly impact these habitats.
Everywhere we turn we can see that our changing climate, and the extreme weather it delivers with a vengeance, is already having a profound and deeply disturbing impact on the flora and fauna that have made the Great Southern Land such a remarkable place - for travellers, for explorers, for discovery.
It is a sad fact that the very country that risks losing these special places, these special and unique forms of life, is also playing such a key role in warming the planet. Our export coal industry is being pushed to expand and expand, despite all the economics and science one can throw at our leaders.
So while other countries are winding down their coal use, Australia is attempting to ramp up our production and export of the product, all the while as we watch first-hand the immediate and long term damage coal and fossil fuels are wreaking on our planet, on people and on nature.
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