Australia’s Politics May Be Changing With Its Climate

HARDEN, Australia — It’s been a year of extremes for this country. The hottest summer ever. Torrential rains in the north. A crippling drought in its southeastern farm belt.

Peter Holding on his farm near Harden, New South Wales, in March.

Now, with national elections scheduled for May 18, a vital question looms: To what degree will climate change sway the way Australians vote? The answer could provide important lessons for other democracies in the age of climate change.

Australia is acutely vulnerable to climate change, just as it is also a culprit. The continent has warmed faster than the global average; its cherished Great Barrier Reef has been devastated by marine heat waves; and heat and drought this year took a bite out of the country’s economy, according to a top official of the country’s central bank. At the same time, central to its prosperity is the extraction of the dirtiest fossil fuel: Australia is the world’s biggest exporter of coal for power generation.  

Read the story from The New York Times by Somini Sengupta  - “Australia’s Politics May Be Changing With Its Climate.”

Runoff pollution from Cyclone Debbie flooding sweeps into Great Barrier Reef

Scientists have raised concerns about another sting in the tail from Cyclone Debbie, with fresh runoff pollution from torrential rains sweeping into Great Barrier Reef waters where many corals lie smashed.

The Fitzroy river mouth before and after
the cyclone. In the top image the
plume of sediment can be seen.

The cyclone dumped much of its deluge on a stretch of the north Queensland coast known as an “erosion hotspot” that generates almost a third of all sediment flowing into the reef.

Andrew Brooks, an associate professor at Griffith University, released pictures hinting at the scale of damage in the erosion-prone Burdekin catchment, as well as flood plumes from the Burdekin, Fitzroy and Gregory rivers pushing sediment and nitrogen pollution out to sea.

Brooks, in a helicopter flight partly funded by the federal and Queensland governments, flew over the area to gauge the damage on 31 March, three days after the cyclone hit.

Read Joshua Robertson’s story on The Guardian - “Runoff pollution from Cyclone Debbie flooding sweeps into Great Barrier Reef.”

Fighting tears Peruvian mayor demands action as brutal floods continue

Lima: Extreme weather has battered many parts of the world this year, but few places have suffered more in lives, homes and crops lost than Peru, which has been beset by torrential rains and massive flooding.

People hold onto a rope as they wade through
 flood waters to safety in Lima, Peru, at the
 start of this month's storms. 

The devastation reduced the mayor of a small town to tears, as he interrupted a presidential press conference in Lima earlier this month to confront Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and demand help for the people of Huarmey.

Miguel Sotelo Llacas said he felt helpless witnessing "the executive authorities' indifference towards Huarmey”.

"I demand help," he said. Rejecting explanations about a delay in machinery, Llacas pleaded. "It's been three days. For three days we've been under water. Three days," he said, his voice quivering.

Read Adriana Leon’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Fighting tears Peruvian mayor demands action as brutal floods continue.”

Downpours, floods test Chinese leaders ability to deliver on safety

Torrential rains brought flood to
 the southern half of China.

Beijing: Torrential rains and floods across the southern half of China have besieged cities and towns for days. Nearly 200 people had died by Friday in drownings, landslides and as buildings collapsed, including 35 buried by a landslide in the far west. Nearly 2 million people have been moved to safer ground while swollen rivers and lakes strain dykes and dams.

For China's leaders, the floods are a test of their ability to deliver on their promises of safety for citizens.

The country's flood defences have faltered in the past, weakened by neglect and corruption, and Prime Minister Li Keqiang​ and other leaders have said that this year the government is better prepared than ever.

Yet experts and residents in areas hit by the rains have claimed that local governments have neglected drainage and filled in lakes, leaving cities exposed to greater flooding.

Read Chris Buckley’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Deadly flooding hits China, putting pressure on leaders.”

(Torrential downpours are a symptom of climate change – Robert McLean.)

Strongest El Nino ever measured drives extreme weather

Deadly extreme weather on at least five continents is driven in large part by a record-breaking El Nino, but climate change is a likely booster too, experts said Monday.

The 2015-16 El Nino, they added, is the strongest ever measured.

"It is probably the most powerful in the last 100 years," said Jerome Lecou, a climate expert at the French weather service Meteo France, noting that accurate measurements have only existed since the mid-20th century.

Flooding and mudslides unleashed by torrential rains have killed at least 10 people and driven more than 150,000 from their homes in Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay in recent days.

In central and southwestern United States—where temperatures in Texas are forecast to drop from a balmy 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit) Saturday to zero (32 F) on Monday—clashing weather fronts have given rise to snow-packed blizzards, freezing rain and a spate of tornadoes that have claimed at least 43 lives.

Read the Phys.org story - “Record El Nino, climate change drive extreme weather.”