Goldilocks era of 'not too hot, not too cold, but just right' is ending

by Robert McLean

T

he “Goldilocks” era of not too hot and not too cold, but just right, is ending.

No matter what we do the pre-industrial temperatures that allowed humanity to prosper are gone and we are now destined to living in a world that will be two, three, four, or event five or six degrees above the halcyon days.

The probability that we will be seeing those temperatures before end of this century, temperatures modern humans have never experienced in their 200,000 years, were seemingly an accepted part of discussion last night at a Melbourne Playback Theatre Company performance, “Our Climate: Personal Stories, Global Change”.

Obviously many in the audience were decidedly upset about the destruction of earth’s equilibrium, but it seemed most were resigned to the unfolding changes, although still actively working to ensure we endure this difficulty with the least amount of trouble and difficulty.

Among those in the audience last night at the University of Melbourne’s Union Theatre was PhD student, Marc Hudson, who wrote about performance on his personal website.

Meanwhile, the 2007 Australian of the Year and a councillor with the Climate Council (the government back Climate Commission before being sacked by the Abbott Government only to be reborn, with huge community support as the Climate Council), Professor Tim Flannery was the subject of a story in today’s Melbourne Age.

Tim Flannery.

The story discussed many aspects of climate change, but in effect was an announcement about the impending release of Prof Flannery’s latest book, “Atmosphere of Hope”, that is to be released next week.

Professor Flannery has been in the vanguard of climate activism, not just chanting slogan from the barricades, but in using science to illustrate to an apparently deaf and blind Abbott Government that its policies are full of holes through which carbon dioxide just pours worsening, by the day, worsening global warming for the world.

University of Melbourne anthropologist, Han Baer, was in the audience at last night performance and dared ask about what he called, as he has on many occasions before, “the elephant in room”, capitalism.

It is the drivers and values of capitalism that appear to be the stumbling block for the many innovative and inventive ideas about mitigating or adapting to climate change.

Far be it from me to challenge Tim Flannery, and nor have I read the book, but all the wonderful thoughts about a “third way” mean little if we continue down the path of unbridled capitalism.

The 2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC) illustrated that if we stop consuming, that is falling in line with the endless growth ideals of capitalism, our carbon dioxide emissions slow.

Brief as it was, the GFC illustrated that if we can in some way somehow break our addiction to consumption then we have a chance, as slight as it maybe of enduring what will be a problematic century.

Read today’s story in the Age - “Tim Flannery's message of hope: new third way technologies will help combat climate change".