Co-authored by George Wilkenfeld
There has always been a sense of unreality about our climate change predicament. Australia seems to have jumped from the delusions of denial to increasingly implausible ‘solutions,’ bypassing sober assessment of the seriousness of the situation we confront.
It should be obvious by now that dangerous warming of the Earth is inevitable and effectively irreversible. Even so, high-profile experts promote radical decarbonisation schemes as if they can deliver a golden green future, glossing over the severe stresses Australia will surely face on a heating planet.
It’s time to shift the emphasis from mitigation to adaptation with an all-embracing and on-going program of investment in protecting ourselves from the ravages of a changing climate. And we must do all we can to preserve our remaining and increasingly precious natural environment, even if that means slower emission cuts.
Living Hot tells the blunt truth about our situation. Doomism and wishful thinking are holding us back from doing what we must – get cracking on making Australia resilient against intensifying climatic extremes. If we prepare well, we can give ourselves a fighting chance of preserving some of the best of what we have while building stronger and fairer communities able to navigate a path through the escalating pressures of a warming world – and even find new ways to flourish.
