Shepparton News asks readers to acknowledge climate change

Today’s Shepparton News editorialized about the difficulties in Vanuatu caused by Cyclone Pam and encouraged its readers to at least acknowledge the effects of climate change.

Below is what was said in the editorial.

 

Once again nature has unleashed its devastating force on a neighbour, and once again it is the poorest of the poor who are hit the hardest.

Since the category five Cyclone Pam slammed into Vanuatu with brutal force on Friday last week, 24 people have so far been counted among the dead; thousands of homes are destroyed and at least 70 000 children have been left homeless. Australians have a long and deep connection to the island nation.

Each year we donate millions of dollars in aid to help education, health, business and infrastructure.

Vanuatu depends on Australian tourism and expertise for its economy.

Now its people will depend on us to help rebuild their island home.

Already Australians are responding to the call with HMAS Townsville and a Royal Australian Navy Taipan helicopter adding to search and rescue and medical teams on the ground.

Ordinary Australians such as former Shepparton resident Zoe O’Brien are contributing their expertise and their funds.

This is as it should be.

We are in a position to help, and so we do.

We share the beauty and terror of this part of the world equally with our neighbours.

Cyclones are part of life here in Australia and across the southern Pacific.

However, we do have to ask – and the question has already been raised – can we expect more frequent and ferocious cyclones?

Vanuatu’s president Baldwin Lonsdale has already said climate change was a key factor in the scale of devastation Pam caused.

The head of the United Nations’ Development Program in Fiji, Osnat Lubrani, who has responsibility for the four countries Cyclone Pam has affected, says the latest disaster to hit the pacific must result in a binding deal on greenhouse gas emissions.

Whether or not climate change is the cause of this most recent disaster may seem irrelevant in the race to meet the desperate needs of the people of Vanuatu.

Arguments about the science will not put roofs over children’s head or feed thousands of hungry mouths.

But if we are to plan for the future, to avoid the repeated scenes of trauma and the continuing scramble for aid, surely we must at least acknowledge the effects of climate change and act to prevent further loss of life and property.

Whether this means moving whole populations or strengthening infrastructure, or at least increasing aid – something will have to be done.

Already another cyclone is building – Cyclone Nathan is bearing down of far north Queensland and communities from Cape Melville down to Innisfail have been warned to brace for a severe tropical cyclone by the end of the week.

The Pacific region is a weather barometer, and it will bear the brunt of any changing climate.

And while climate change may be slow and incremental, it is not invisible.

•This article can be found on the SheppartonNews website, although it is behind a paywall.