Higher frequency of exceptionally hot years in Australia
Updated
Hot on the heels of Professor Ross Garnaut's declaration that global warming poses a "diabolical" challenge, comes another grim warning. Australian scientists are warning we can expect, on average, exceptionally hot years every one to two years for the forseeable future.
Presenter: Alexandra Kirk
Speakers: Professor Ross Garnaut, the author of the Australian Government's report on climate change policy; Tony Burke, Australia's minister for agriculture; Ben Fargher, CEO, National Farmers Federation; Dr Brendan Nelson, Australian opposition leader.
ALEXANDRA KIRK: The hard sell is on. The Government has hinted it may embark on a taxpayer funded advertising campaign to publicise its greenhouse emissions trading plan.
Starting today, Kevin Rudd's climate change adviser, Professor Ross Garnaut, is running town hall meetings in five capital cities.
ROSS GARNAUT: I'm telling it as it is, these are hard decisions. Our job is to put to the Australian community very clearly what the costs are, what the risks are if we don't take early action.
ALEXANDRA KIRK: Yet another gloomy scenario has emerged. The nation's top scientists at the CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology predict a surge in heat waves. For the next 30 years, droughts will occur twice as often and cover double the land mass because of climate change.
TONY BURKE: The ground rules have changed now and the climate is coming at us with challenges far more serious than what we've ever dealt with in the past.
ALEXANDRA KIRK: The Minister for Agriculture Tony Burke says the new report reads like a disaster novel; exceptionally hot years which happened once every 20 or 25 years, triggering drought aid, will now occur every one to two years.
TONY BURKE: Events that used to be viewed as exceptional will now be viewed as regular.
ALEXANDRA KIRK: Ben Fargher of the National Farmers' Federation says Australian farmers are good at adapting to adversity, but the Government will have to dig deep to help with this added risk.
BEN FARGHER: With genetics and infrastructure and new technology and new techniques, with those tools at their disposal, then they'll be up to the challenge, but that will require an investment from government and the community and from industry.
ALEXANDRA KIRK: Tony Burke acknowledges that responsibility, just how much and in what way is still being worked out. But he's sure farming has a future.
TONY BURKE: I am optimistic. The ground rules are tougher, but the determination to prepare for the future, to invest in research and development and to actually move the farming agenda forward is far more concerted in effort that it's been for a very long time.
ALEXANDRA KIRK: Tackling climate change will also mean higher fuel and energy prices. Professor Garnaut says bipartisan support is needed for such a big policy shift.
But there's no sign of that yet. While the Opposition backs an emissions trading scheme, it's demanding "no real increase" in the cost of petrol for anyone. Brendan Nelson also says Labor's 2010 start up date is too early and he wants all carbon intensive industries compensated.
BRENDAN NELSON: We are very concerned that Mr Rudd is taking Australia way out in front of the rest of the world and in doing so it places significant risk on the Australia economy, Australian jobs, Australian industry for no environmental gain at all because the rest of the world, particularly the big emitters will not yet be ready to roll.
Once we have actually seen the Government's policies and the decisions that he has made, we may well support what the Government chooses to do, but we may not because what we will do is put Australia first.
