Australia’s image tarnished by coal

Sir, – Since the vast majority of scientists and world independent agencies, like the UN, now accept climate change is a reality and has been greatly accelerated by human activity, why is acceptance not acknowledged by all?

Although every continent is now affected, Australia is becoming the most climatically difficult continent for human and wildlife habitation.

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned the annual water flow into Australia’s vast Murray-Darling river basin, (an area the size of Spain and France) providing 85% of water used for irrigation, will fall by over 25% in the next decade. The future is not good for Australian farmers.

By 2050 there will be around nine billion people on planet Earth. Feeding all will require a doubling of global food production.

However, with global water an increasing scarcity, when 1.8 billion people will be living in countries suffering from severe water deprivation, this is just not possible.

The latest IPCC report states clearly that by 2030 harvests could be halved in some countries.

The fact is the pleasant and clean image of Australia has been tarnished by it becoming the world’s worst emitter of greenhouse gas per head of population, due to it continuing to burn great quantities of coal.

Again the UN report of the IPCC states that Australia emits almost as much greenhouse gas as Italy and France, which have more than three times the population.

Furthermore as carbon increases in the atmosphere the acidity in the oceans increases, which is now known to have risen by 30%.

Apparently this is the most significant change in the chemistry of our seas for 20 million years, making it difficult for plankton to survive, upon which almost all marine life depends.

With humans altering the ocean’s ecosystem, dreadful consequences will result for all life on Earth.

Grant Frazer, Newtonmore.