Personally, accepting defeat is not an option in so far as Climate Change is concerned. We have the power right here and now to make a difference, and cut emissions throughout the word, which will help avert catastrophic Climate Change. We only have a short window of opportunity in which to act.
Take this article titled “Climate Change hits NT tourism hard” featured in The Age, for a good example. It is one of many but I will focus on tourism for this post.
This part of the article particularly peeved me;
“Funded by the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre, the research will focus on the Top End, the Great Barrier Reef, the Blue Mountains, the Australian Alps and the Barossa Valley.
These case studies will be used to formulate “urgent adaptation strategies” and provide guidelines on how tourist operators can best cope with the changes.”
Adapt! What an crock. If all of the tourist operators, and tourists adapted now i.e. by lowering their carbon footprint and by tourists maybe taking the train instead of flying everywhere, they wouldn’t have to “formulate urgent adaption strategies”! They may even see some of this vast, brown land in the process.
Maybe I am being a bit harsh, but knowing that the increase in all this aviation activity throughout the world is speeding up climate change and pumping the very gasses high into the atmosphere where they do the most damage, I think that the average tourist of today should have a good hard look at themselves. I am not condoning tourism full stop, but I ask that some thought be given to the modes of transport we choose to get to our chosen destination. That will be the easiest way to adapt!
If you thought that we had given up the ghost from the last statement, please read on. It gets better. This part of the article which quotes a Dr Pascal Tremblay, Professor of Tourism, Charles Sturt Uni (no obvious qualifications regarding climate science, but I may be wrong) as having said;
“If a category five cyclone like Monica were to make a direct hit on Kakadu, it could wipe out an entire tourist season and have considerable impact on the destination’s market share. It could also take tourism businesses years to fully recover.”
No shit, Sherlock! Boo hoo, poor old tourist season, shall I call for the wambulance? What about the poor old ecosystems? What about the wonderful and beautiful part of the country you so nonchalantly mention as affecting the ‘tourism business’? Stop thinking about the almighty dollar, stop doing bloody reviews, and do something about it, and tourism will not get affected! I am really getting sick of talk without action. Blah, blah, blah. Here comes another review about the impacts of climate change. Get over it. The world is heating up, we know that already! We as a civilisation have the tools right now to avert it, so get off your bum and do something about it Dr Tourism! And for our media friends out there, please stop printing that we now have to adapt to the inevitable climate change. It is not inevitable. It is mostly avoidable, if and only if, we act sooner rather than later. I am no climate scientist, but at least give the public some hope and the fighting spirt to actually do something. Get on board or bugger off.
I think a “staycation” is a great idea. Just think of it this way. People work all their lives to pay rent or for a mortgage on their abode, only to pay even more money when they actually take time off from work to go on a long distance holiday, usually overseas somewhere. Why not stay at home and visit places locally that are of interest. I would love a dollar every time I heard someone say, “I have live here for so many years, and have never been to the local zoo (insert whatever local attraction you have never visited)!” It takes a family member or friend to visit from interstate or overseas to get us off of our rear ends and actually become a local tourist. Even holidaying within your own state or province is a great start. I am just as guilty in the past, of this, as everyone else. The last holiday we took was to Stirling, South Australia (Mt Lofty Railway Station). That was 4 years ago now and was Kim & my first holiday since we were married in ’97. We usually do day trips or go to the city via train to have a look around at the local sites. It has been a while though, and we need to get out a little more in the next few months, just locally of course.
So how about it? Instead of being brainwashed by TV ads and holiday shows, about far away destinations, think about a local holiday this season, and do the planet and our civilisation a favour!
Abso-bloody-lutley! Spot on Gav. My last major holiday was in 1986 when I took a trip to Bali. Since then have taken short trips like Hervey Bay or a few hours up the sunshine coast for a long weekend but I would personally rather take a day trip (especially with all my kids) or spend the money I would normally use on a holiday and put it towards my home and garden or something special for my kids to enjoy together like new bikes or playground equiptment or just go nuts at local nursery filling up empty patches in the garden. What the heck are we the public thinking? Get with the programme people, before your homes are flooded by rising oceans or crumbling down around your ears due to climate conditions! Have we all suddenly become so stupid to the the point of ignorance? Teena xox
Take no prisoners !!!
Gav, your dead right.
Bloody tip of the wing pinko defeatists. How dare they just roll over and play dead when there is so much they can be doing to fight against climate change.
Cane toads of climate change thats what I call them….
Gav, I was horrified with last night’s news reporting on the latest report from Ross Garnaud. IF we adhere to the Bali carbon reduction level of 20% (and we’d only do that if the rest of the world did) then the graph would look slightly less horrifying than the more likely prospect of 5%, which is what the industry people say they can probably live with.
If you tell yourself a lie, and keep telling it over and over again, it becomes true doesn’t it?
Lisa x
Hey Gavin,
How many Cane toads* ( see my previous post) can I offset on mt ride around Oz taking into account of the embodied energy of the trike and stuff ?
Phil.
Ps… will cane toads* damage my tyres if I run them over a few
@ Teena. I have just spent a wonderful afternoon pottering around in the vegie-patch. Better than a holiday and cost me and the environment nothing. If anything, we all benefited.
@ Phil. I think you better take some spare tyres for the trip mate, those cane toads have reached the top end! Maybe the tourists can hit one each and get rid of them for us all.
@ Lisa. Money, lies, deception, denial, the list is endless. Corporations will not win, nor the shareholders. Everyone will suffer if we don’t act as a global community ASAP.
I was going to write a post about the very subject of the Garnaud review, but two angry posts in two days might just put me and my kind readers over the edge!
That’s ok Gavin, you’re not the only one – you can always read my angry post about Garnaut when I put it up later today 🙂