The Turnstone: talking about climate change #5

Australia: plan to do better and prepare for the worst (3 minute read)

Snow guns are fixed on pedestals, positioned

at precise points; sentinels guarding the

seasonal touch up on the receding head of

the mountain.

From Winter by Amanda Anastasi

Standley Chasm, Central Australia (image credit: Melanie Newfield)

Welcome to The Turnstone: talking about climate change, where I share resources to help you have better conversations about climate change. I send The Turnstone out every Sunday, alternating in-depth articles with “talking about vaccines” and “talking about climate change”. If you’d like The Turnstone emailed to you directly, you can sign up to my mailing list.

The results of the Australian election last week suggest that climate change is of increasing concern to the Australian people. So this month I focus on resources to help Australian readers as well as those outside Australia who might be speaking with Australians about climate change. But many of these resources will be of interest to anyone who cares about climate change – if you click only one link, take a look at the indigenous Australian art.

Sound representation of Cyclone Debbie (2 minute video)

The Climate Change Communication Research Hub of Monash University is doing some unusual work in communicating about climate change. One example is this sound representation of the powerful Cyclone Debbie, which hit Queensland in 2017.

Sonifying Climate Change in Australia - Climate Change Communication Research Hub (monash.edu)

How climate models work from the CSIRO (five 2 minute videos)

The first three of these videos from the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) give a good overview of how climate models work. (The last two are more specific and not particularly relevant to a general viewer.)

Animations (climatechangeinaustralia.gov.au)

Australia’s rainfall from the Bureau of Meteorology (3 minute video)

This video talks about the ways that climate change will affect Australia’s rainfall. There are also a number of other good videos about climate change from Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology.

State of the Climate 2020: Behind the science—Australian rainfall - YouTube

Overview of climate change in Australia (15 minute read)

This page gives an excellent overview of how climate change will affect Australia. It looks at the more obvious effects, such as rising temperatures, as well as the less obvious effects such as impacts on Australia’s native plants and animals, as well as the impacts on human health. Although there is a lot of information, it’s largely free from jargon.

Impacts of Climate Change - The Australian Museum

Plan to do better and prepare for the worst (17 minute read and 3 minute video for summary, full report 98 pages)

If you really want to understand the reality that Australia is facing, there’s an in-depth report from the Australian Academy of Science which looks at the impacts that 3oC of warming would have on Australia. The 3oC figure is based on where we will be by the end of this century if countries honour the commitments made in the 2015 Paris agreement. (If the 2021 Glasgow commitments are kept, warming may be limited to just below 2oC, but that’s a very big IF).

The risks to Australia of a 3°C warmer world | Australian Academy of Science

Climate change art (12 images)

This collection, from indigenous Australian artists, brings us a different perspective on climate change. There are some stunning images, and I especially love the different ways that eucalyptus trees are portrayed by different artists. These artworks have also reminded me that indigenous Australian cultures have in their memory global changes such as the end of the last ice age, around 10,000 years ago.

Big Weather: Indigenous artists reflect on climate crisis – in pictures | Art and design | The Guardian

This month’s climate change poem is one of a series by Amanda Anastasi. You can read the whole poem at the link below.

Winter - Climate Change Communication Research Hub (monash.edu)

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