Category Archives: extreme events

Natural disaster: a tale of two cities

Recovery from disastrous events like floods and earthquakes involves vision and  imagination as well as hard yakka. Hobart and Christchurch have a lot in common. They’re around the same latitude and each is the main centre on a southern island. … Continue reading

Posted in Adaptation, built environment, Bureau of Meteorology, bureaucracy, business, investment, employment, carbon, carbon emissions and targets, changes to climate, climate politics, climate system, CSIRO, economic activity, extreme events, extreme events, future climate, investment, land use, leadership, local economy, local government, planning, science | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Natural disaster: a tale of two cities

Beneath the waves, a disaster in the making

Marine heatwaves are devastating our coastal ecosystems like nothing we’ve ever seen. “The great mother of life” was how Rachel Carson, author of the 1962 environmental classic Silent Spring, described the sea. Today the great mother of life is ailing, … Continue reading

Posted in Australian politics, biodiversity, biological resources, carbon emissions and targets, changes to climate, economic threat from climate, extreme events, fossil fuels, future climate, marine organisms, marine sciences, oceanography, science | Comments Off on Beneath the waves, a disaster in the making

A scientist warns of ‘unthinkable’ disaster

In the face of unfolding calamity, politicians continue to play games with coal power. Every so often I reach a personal tipping point. It happens when I encounter one too many of those blithe ministerial statements on another motorway extension, … Continue reading

Posted in Arctic, Australian politics, carbon, carbon emissions and targets, changes to climate, climate politics, climate sensitivity, climate system, coal-fired, contrarians, extreme events, extreme events, future climate, mining, palaeoclimatology, science, temperature | Comments Off on A scientist warns of ‘unthinkable’ disaster