I’ve just had another idyllic Sydney day – a bushwalk by the harbour this morning, followed by a relaxing coffee in the sunshine – all brought to you by global warming.
It used to be that this time of year in Sydney was colder and wetter than the average now. Today wasn’t that warm (21 degree maximum), but you can pretty much rely on having a fine day these days. And in the last two weeks, we’ve had two days over 30 degrees.
Right now, my life is probably improved by global warming – although I don’t like the hotter summer, the rest of the year Sydney is fantastic, because it’s warmer and drier. I can see why there are large swathes of the world thinking “global warming – how bad can it be?” – if you have the horrible winters they get in parts of the US, you’d be in favour of global warming, too.
But the main dam in Goulburn has just run dry. If you live in Goulburn, you’re restricted to 150 litres of water per person per day for the foreseeable future. If you go a bit further up the coast of NSW, you’re getting to places that are getting increasing storms, and are starting to get the chance of cyclones. Australia has probably got more to lose than most countries, but you couldn’t tell by what we’re doing about it.
It’s true, we made a lot of jokes about how much we love global warming when we had an unusually pleasant stretch of weather during the winter just passed. But if we get socked with a major hurricane this upcoming season, I won’t feel like making jokes anymore. And when sea levels rise enough to inundate parts of my favorite vacation spot, I’ll be downright devastated.
I wish there was more I could do that didn’t require totally unplugging from the main stream of society. Sigh.
The other thing about rising water temperature is not only the effect on weather but on sea and river life. So we’re literaly living the warm life while other species die around us. Then it will be our turn…
Here in Canada, the ice roads in the far north no longer run teh season–the permafrost isn’t very frosty anymore, and the winters aren’t cold enough now for the ice to be thick enough for the trucks to get to these otherwise isolated communities through a very long winter. They’re having to fly in all their supplies, which is not only tremendously expensive but, of course, produces more ghgs. It’s a real problem.
And so what does our new government do? Why, cancel Kyoto! So frustrated.