Even as the country fights bushfires, it can’t stop dumping planet-warming pollution into the atmosphere. Australia is caught in a climate spiral. For the past few decades, the arid and affluent country of 25 million has padded out its economy—otherwise dominated by sandy beaches and a bustling service sector—by selling coal to the world.
Research from a now defunded Australian adaptation centre has found social barriers are the biggest obstacle to effective action Talking to a fourth-generation grazier west of Townsville a few years ago, Prof Stephen Williams says he “made the mistake” of mentioning climate change. “He said it was bullshit, but we kept talking,” the James
It is unconscionable that the taxpayer funds fossil fuels to the tune of $1,728 per person per year. What if we channelled this into climate adaptation? It is week nine of the current bushfire crisis; almost 20 people are dead, over 1,000 homes have been lost, half a billion animals have been killed and
As with so many things, Californians are going first where the rest of us will follow Monday morning dawned smoky across much of California, and it dawned scary – over the weekend winds as high as a hundred miles an hour had whipped wildfires through forests and subdivisions. It wasn’t the first time this
California’s fire season is back. Yet if this past week is any indication, our emergency response remains woefully inadequate. When disaster strikes we are far from being energy resilient, ensuring reliable access to electricity for our most vulnerable communities. Climate fires are California’s new normal. Dangerous combinations of high (20-60 mph) sustained winds and
With Public Safety Power Shutoffs increasingly common in California to prevent the spread of wildfires, many are calling for more residential solar plus storage to help keep the lights on. The Californian wildfire season has been devastating, with some 53,354 acres burned according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. This autumn,
Climate experts ‘bewildered’ by government ‘burying their heads in the sand’, and say bushfires on Australia’s east coast should be a ‘wake-up call’ Leading scientists have expressed concern about the lack of focus on the climate crisis as bushfires rage across New South Wales and Queensland, saying it should be a “wake-up call” for
There are not many political messages that can slip through a closed window or a locked door, but that’s just what happened last week in Australia’s biggest city. Climate change didn’t just come knocking; it slithered in under every crack, filling houses and offices across Sydney with the acrid smell of burning forests. The
Few thought it would arrive so quickly. Now we’re facing consequences once viewed as fringe scenarios. For decades, most scientists saw climate change as a distant prospect. We now know that thinking was wrong. This summer, for instance, a heat wave in Europe penetrated the Arctic, pushing temperatures into the 80s across much of
The fires and the blackouts are connected to a larger problem in this state: a failure to live sustainably. SAN FRANCISCO — I have lived nearly all my life in California, and my love for this place and its people runs deep and true. There have been many times in the past few years when