Ed,

Joelle Gergis, a young female climate scientist wrote about water cycle changes for the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report. In her recent brief article “Past The Warning Stage” Joelle produced two very extraordinary facts about rainfall along the east coast *.

In Brisbane’s 1974 floods:- “The city was pounded with 677 millimetres of rain in just three days- more than Melbourne normally receives in an entire year.”

Now move on, almost 50 years later and only just last month:- “At Dunoon, north of Lismore, 775 millimetres of rain fell in 24 hours.”

And Joelle, who lives:- “in the flood-affected region of Northern New South Wales and who has family in Lismore who have either lost their home, business and/ or all of their possessions to this disaster. It’s my husband’s home town. This disaster cut me to the bone.”

Joelle summed up this in two brief sentences:- “As a climate scientist, I want to be clear: this is what climate change looks like. Climate change isn’t just about numbers on a graph, it’s about the people and the places we love.”

We are experiencing and suffering from climate change now. And climate change is on the move now.

And after our grand election final in May, what will those we choose to elect then do about climate change?

What will we adult voters do about climate change? What will our Local Governments do? What will our State Governments do? What will our Federal Government do? What will our Media do? What will our school students still too young to vote for their future do? Will we now all sing from the same song sheet? For that is what it will take to address climate change so that we don’t end up where we are still heading.

After all, the future is what we choose!

Harry Johnson, Iluka 

* Quotes from Joelle Gergis from her article in the April issue of ‘The Monthly’.