kamui Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 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. By Julie Cart April 9, 2009 Reporting from The Murray-Darling Basin, Australia â?? 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 [truck], 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. (...) LA Times Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Munchmaster Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 ....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.... Don't forget the Cane Toads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shygye Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 ... put another shrimp on the barbie. :bangit: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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