Misunderstanding the 'critical decade' on national television

The idea that this is the “critical decade” in relation to combatting climate change is broadly misunderstood.

Prof Lesley Hughes.

Just last night (June 17), the co-director of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, Kirsty Albion, appeared on national television and was asked that if was the “critical decade” how much had the climate worsened in that time.

What the questioner didn’t seem to understand that it is not so much about the actual worsening of our climate, rather how we should be using this “critical decade” to change our behaviours to slow the worsening effects of climate change.

The idea of the critical decade was discussed onThe Conversation  through an article headed: “Updating the state of Australia’s climate”.

Author, the head of department of Biological Sciences at Macquarie University, Prof Lesley Huges, said: “It is the Critical Decade to get on with the job of tackling climate change.”