Council listens to dire warning on climate change

Mirror
Wednesday 7/2/2007 Page: 9

BRUCE Beatson's presentation to South Gippsland Shire Council last Wednesday on the Australian Conservation Foundation's Al Gore Climate Project was timely.

The Toora farmer's presentation coincided with the week in which the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released in Paris the first volume of its fourth assessment report, 'The Physical Science Basis of Climate Change.' According to this significant weather forecast, the world is likely to warm by up to four degrees Celsius by the end of this century as a result of increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere caused by human activity.

Mr Beatson, who is currently the Manager of the Dollar Wind Farm Information Centre, spoke eloquently of his changing attitude to life on the land and his deepening concern about global warning and the need for communities to understand it and take action in the interests of future generations.

He attended a threeday seminar/workshop in Sydney last November at which he committed to present the Power Point project featured in former US Vice-President Al Gore's film 'An Inconvenient Truth' across this region during the next twelve months. He is one of 85 presenters of the project.

Mr Beatson began with a photograph of planet Earth taken from space and showing the thin layer of atmosphere encircling the planet, its fragility threatened, he said, by global warming.

"We're slowly and certainly warming the planet," said Mr Beatson, showing photographs depicting changes in climatic features of the Earth over the years, such as fewer glaciers and significantly less snow even on the highest peaks in the fifty years from the 1930s to the 1980s.

As well as providing photographic evidence of global warming, Mr Beatson quoted statistics. He said the hottest years recorded on Earth have all occurred in the last ten years, with 2005 the hottest on record (the figures for 2006 are as yet unavailable, but could well eclipse those of 2005), and said that ocean temperatures have been rising, too.

"As climate changes the impact goes right through to all of us," said Mr Beatson. He explained that hurricanes and tornadoes increased in intensity as oceans heated up and said that the number of hurricanes in the world had increased significantly in recent years, causing havoc where they struck.

He spoke of the threat to polar bears as the ice flows at the North Pole decreased, the bleaching of coral reefs as the oceans warmed, and the rise in sea levels as the world warmed and ice caps melted. "The potential if we do nothing is this," said Mr Beatson, showing a photograph of a half-submerged Melbourne CBD.

He attributed global warming to three major factors - the population explosion the world has seen in recent years, the scientific and technological revolution which has led to a massive increase in power generation and hence damaging emissions and, thirdly, our way of thinking.

Pre-empting the doubters, Mr Beatson said he wished to clear up three misconceptions.

• He said that contrary to what some people argued, scientists were agreed that the problem of global warming was real. The facts were in all the reputable scientific journals.
• He said that there was no need to make a choice between the environment and the economy, as many company executives were already realising.
• His third point was that the problem was not too big to handle.

"[The solution] is achievable and affordable," he said, outlining some of the many steps that could be taken by nations, governments, individuals - and by local councils such as South Gippsland.

"It's time that we all started taking action," concluded Mr Beatson, hopeful that there will be some massive shifts in opinion and positive ideas for action expressed over the next 12 months as he continues to give his presentation.

Mayor Jennie Deane thanked Mr Beatson for his presentation and assured him that Council took its environmental responsibilities seriously. She said council worked closely with South Gippsland Water on water issues and a staff member was allocated to issues of water, drought and climate change. "We look seriously at environmental issues and are trying to become as informed as possible," she said.