We have seen the future, and it is Australia — and it isn’t pretty

[RedEarth]

Dust Bowl-ification hits Eastern Australia — next stop the U.S. Southwest.
Posted By Joe On September 24, 2009 @ 2:21 pm In Climate Progress




satellite picture of the Wall of Dust


NASA’s Earth Observatory reported <2> yesterday:

A wall of dust stretched from northern Queensland to the southern tip of eastern Australia on the morning of September 23, 2009, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image . The dust is thick enough that the land beneath it is not visible. The storm, the worst in 70 years, led to canceled or delayed flights, traffic problems, and health issues, reported the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) News. The concentration of particles in the air reached 15,000 micrograms per cubic meter in New South Wales during the storm, said ABC News. A normal day sees a particle concentration 10-20 micrograms per cubic meter.

Australia is the the driest inhabited continent on earth, with a fragile ecosystem, which makes it the canary in the coal mine for how global warming will create Dust Bowls in the SW and around the globe (see “Australia faces collapse as climate change kicks in”: Are the Southwest and California next? <3>).

It is, sadly, probably too late to save much of Australia. But it is not too late to save the U.S. Southwest and other key regions in or near the subtropics. We can still prevent the worst.

Two years ago, Science <4> (subs. req’d) published research that “predicted a permanent drought by 2050 throughout the Southwest <5>” on our current emissions path — levels of aridity comparable to the 1930s Dust Bowl would stretch from Kansas to California. The Bush Administration itself reaffirmed this conclusion in December (see US Geological Survey stunner: SW faces “permanent drying” by 2050. <6>)

And a major new study led by NOAA found that if we don’t act to reverse emissions soon, these global Dust Bowls will be irreversible for a long, long time (see NOAA stunner: Climate change “largely irreversible for 1000 years,” with permanent Dust Bowls in Southwest and around the globe <7>).



VIDEO HERE.......

http://climateprogress.org/2009/09/24/giant-dust-bowl-hits-eastern-australia-next-stop-the-us-southwest/



Absolute must read: Australia today offers horrific glimpse of U.S. Southwest, much of planet, post-2040, if we don’t slash emissions soon

Posted By Joe On April 12, 2009 @ 1:23 pm In Science | 44 Comments

Drought, fires, killer heat waves, wildlife extinction and mosquito-borne illness — the things that climate change models are predicting have already arrived there, say.

That’s the subhead on a stunning L.A. Times piece, “What will global warming look like? Scientists point to Australia <1>,” which opens starkly:

Reporting from The Murray-Darling Basin, Australia — Frank Eddy pulled off his dusty boots and slid into a chair, taking his place at the dining room table where most of the critical family issues are hashed out. Spreading hands as dry and cracked as the orchards he tends, the stout man his mates call Tank explained what damage a decade of drought has done .

“Suicide is high. Depression is huge. Families are breaking up. It’s devastation,” he said, shaking his head. “I’ve got a neighbor in terrible trouble. Found him in the paddock, sitting in his , crying his eyes out. Grown men — big, strong grown men. We’re holding on by the skin of our teeth. It’s desperate times.”

A result of climate change?

“You’d have to have your head in the bloody sand to think otherwise,” Eddy said.

You have to have your head stuck in the bloody sand, or just be a consumer of big media — see CNN, ABC, WashPost, AP, blow Australian wildfire, drought, heatwave “Hell (and High Water) on Earth” story — never mention climate change <2>.

This LAT story is one of the most powerful pieces of climate change journalism to appear in a major U.S. newspaper. It is the climate story of the decade, literally — and if we don’t reverse course soon, it will be the story of the century, if not the millenium — for America and the world.

http://climateprogress.org/2009/04/12/australia-southwest-global-warming-drought-wildfire/

............LA Times article.......

What will global warming look like? Scientists point to Australia

Drought, fires, killer heat waves, wildlife extinction and mosquito-borne illness -- the things that climate change models are predicting have already arrived there, they say.

Frank Eddy pulled off his dusty boots and slid into a chair, taking his place at the dining room table where most of the critical family issues are hashed out. Spreading hands as dry and cracked as the orchards he tends, the stout man his mates call Tank explained what damage a decade of drought has done .

"Suicide is high. Depression is huge. Families are breaking up. It's devastation," he said, shaking his head. "I've got a neighbor in terrible trouble. Found him in the paddock, sitting in his , crying his eyes out. Grown men -- big, strong grown men. We're holding on by the skin of our teeth. It's desperate times."

A result of climate change?

"You'd have to have your head in the bloody sand to think otherwise," Eddy said.

They call Australia the Lucky Country, with good reason. Generations of hardy castoffs tamed the world's driest inhabited continent, created a robust economy and cultivated an image of irresistibly resilient people who can't be held down. Australia exports itself as a place of captivating landscapes, brilliant sunshine, glittering beaches and an enviable lifestyle.

Look again. Climate scientists say Australia -- beset by prolonged drought and deadly bush fires in the south, monsoon flooding and mosquito-borne fevers in the north, widespread wildlife decline, economic collapse in agriculture and killer heat waves -- epitomizes the "accelerated climate crisis" that global warming models have forecast.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-climate-change-australia9-2009apr09,0,2920328,print.story

[elocs]

1. Unfortunately, I think it is too late for us also. Too many people don't care.

Too many people will refuse to do or believe anything until the wolf is at the door and by that time it will be too late. To add insult to injury these same people will also do nothing to prepare for the worst because they don't believe it is coming.

[RKP5637]

2. The clock is ticking but many sadly can't tell time!

Often only disasters provoke corrective action, but for this one it will be too late... Many in the human species are so ignorant as to annihilate themselves with denial, ignorance or simply not giving a damn. For supposedly being an intelligent species, we don't hack it...

[mimitabby]

3. very sad. I just read the article

but human beings are a big joke:

"Scientists are frustrated that such dramatic anecdotal and empirical evidence hasn't sparked equally dramatic action from Australia's government. They suspect the inaction can be partly explained by examining the nation's relationship with coal. Australia is the world's largest exporter of coal and relies on it for 80% of its electricity. That helps make Australia and its 21 million people the world's highest per-capita producers of greenhouse gases in the industrialized world."

"Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says climate change is high on his agenda, but many here are disappointed by his pledge to cut overall greenhouse gas emissions by only 5% by 2020."

[uriel1972]

4. We're even more dissappointed

by the fact that our opposition, the (conservative party strangely called) Liberals and it's coalition partner the Nationals blocked the legeslation with the aid of nutbag senator Fielding of the Family First party. Which as you may be able to tell from it's name is one of those "Family Values" organisations and Fielding himself is a very vocal climate change denier * a term I much prefer over climate change sceptic.).

[RKP5637]

5. Money, Power and Greed are the obstacles to solutions.

Money, Power and Greed are the obstacles to solutions. Same problems in the US. Many know what to do but are impeded by the politics, lobbyists and flowing cash for contributions. There are too many pet rewards built into the system for the right solution to appear with forthrightness.