Warnings on climate change amid heavy rain and bush fires

It is the message from experts across the country that we have a "serious lack of understanding" of the severe weather that has hit our cities and towns.

They say that as a result, we are not ready to deal with disasters.

Their worries arise as extreme weather conditions hit different states, from Sydney floods with a month of precipitation in two hours, to a "fire storm" in Queensland, the worst of its kind.

Experts say these are all signs of climate change and that Australians must start paying attention, otherwise the consequences will be "catastrophic", the latter events being considered "docile" in relation to what is coming.

"Australia must accept the fact that climate change is causing the intensity of these unprecedented events," warns Professor Hilary Bambrick, head of public health at Queensland University of Technology.

"We must not only adapt fire management strategies to meet the" new climate normalization ", but also urgently and significantly reduce our greenhouse gas pollution in order to limit future climate change."

Jim McLennan is a Bushfire Safety Researcher and Adjunct Professor at La Trobe University. He is very worried.

According to him, the worst bush fire in Queensland would have occurred on October 30, 1918 at a cattle station in Saltern Creek. Five male employees died when a wind blocked them while they were trying to extinguish a fire.

"As a person involved in the investigation of the Victorian bushfires after Saturday, Saturday, Saturday, and on those who followed several other fires until severe in 2015 – when I decided that I would not Wanted more "to do that", I am very worried that Queensland did not have a bush fire at the level of the disaster in its living memory, "he said.

"This can mean a serious misunderstanding of the dangers and therefore a lack of preparation of the residents currently under threat.

"We must accept that climate change now means (a) that more parts of Australia are at significant risk of being attacked by bushfires and (b) the annual fire danger period is longer than the one we were used to before. "

He added that this poses new challenges for governments, fire agencies and land and communities.

Their comments come at a time when the world is at risk of failing to meet the climate change goals set under the Paris Agreement.

The latest statement from the World Meteorological Organization on the state of the climate in 2018 warns that the long-term warming trend has continued, with the average global temperature being the fourth highest ever recorded.

It reveals that the 20 hottest years ever recorded have been recorded over the past 22 years, the first four of the past four years.

Other warning signs of climate change, including rising sea levels, heat and ocean acidification, melting sea ice and glaciers continue, while extreme weather has left a trail of devastation on every continent.

The report also indicates that global temperatures for the first 10 months of the year were close to 1 ° C above the preindustrial baseline between 1850 and 1900.

"It is worth repeating once again that we are the first generation to fully understand climate change and that the last generation is able to do something about it," said WMO Secretary-General Petteri. Taalas.

The report highlights the significant drought that has occurred in eastern Australia in 2018, particularly in New South Wales and southern Queensland, with average rainfall less than half of that of New Caledonia. January to September.

Dr. Liz Hanna co-authored a report published Thursday in the newspaper Medical Journal of Australia who warned the Australian climate vacuum was threatening Australian lives.

A group of 19 experts from 13 universities and research institutes took part in the work that found that Australia was vulnerable to the effects of climate change on health.

They discovered that heat stress alone costs $ 616 per year per employee.

"The first ten months of 2018 could be described as the global steroid climate, wreaking havoc around the world, continuing the relentless march of setting new extreme temperatures, precipitation records, increasing severe tropical cyclones, droughts, fires and sea level rise says Dr. Hanna.

"Climate change can be linked to worsening consequences, increasing numbers of casualties, loss of life and livelihoods, and further erosion of our children's future.

"The chaotic climate of Australia, which experienced the extreme heat and drought conditions last summer on NSW and QLD, or the wild climate stretching from Cairns to the middle of the NSW coast, is no isolated events. This trend is happening all over the world. Nobody can continue to claim that it is a "normal variability". "

Dr. Richard Thornton, Executive Director of the Cooperative Research Center on Bush Fires and Natural Hazards, said natural hazards are causing more damage and destruction than ever before in Australia and internationally.

"Climate change is leading to more severe weather, but demographic changes are having equal impact and deserve just as much attention," he said.

"Our research shows that many Australians find it hard to understand that we live in a country where there are natural hazards and that the measures required to increase our safety are sometimes bothersome and threaten what we value.

"We need to change and think about new ways to fight bushfires, floods, cyclones and heat waves."

Dr. Andrew King, a lecturer in climatology at the University of Melbourne, said without drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions: "We can expect the extreme weather conditions we experienced this year to be considered quite docile compared to our future extremes ".