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.
