Climate Experience:
Winemaker has lost all crop due to bushfires and has threatened his family business.
Explanation:
- Increasing temperatures and less rainfall has lead to greater forest fire danger.[1]
- Parts of the region have seen 200-300mm reduction in rainfall since 1950.[2]
- The region has experience the past 21 years in a row above average annual temperatures.[3]
- The 2000-19 period has seen a 67% increase in total fire bans across Victoria compared to the preceding two decades.[4]
- Victoria has become substantially drier[5]
- The number of dangerous bushfire days is increasing, along with the intensity of fires.[6]
Ramifications:
- Inaction will see an increase in severe fire days in southern and eastern Australia by up to 160-190% by 2090.[7]
- Economic costs of bushfires in Victoria is an estimated $180 million per year, this is predicted to double by 2050.[8]
- Increase in fires will mean more fatalities, but also an increase in adverse health affects caused by smoke, this can include cardiac arrests and increased inhalation of cancer causing chemicals; the elderly are most vulnerable.[9]
- Increased fires will also mean an increase in people who suffer from post-traumatic stress, anxiety, depression, grief, among other mental health problems.[10]
- Increasing bushfires poses a huge threat to Victoria’s enormous agriculture industry, worth over $14 billion.[11]
What can be done?
- Email your local MP and tell them that action on climate is important to you and explain the impacts being felt in your area. One email might not feel like much but most politicians consider it to be representative of 100 citizens.
- Help support the Act on Climate collective by donating; we are leading the charge for climate action. Your donation helps in advancing policies that prevent climate change from getting worse, we aim to empower communities and build a strong pro-climate-action constituency that governments can’t ignore, and as an added bonus it’s tax-deductable.
- Get involved with Act on Climate. We meet every Monday at 6pm (upstairs at 312 Smith St, Collingwood) and welcome all newcomers to join in the fight for climate justice. If you are unable to attend, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up with the latest campaign.
* We aim to keep our material as accurate and as relevant as possible. Working with climate science, a field that is being constantly updated, keeps us on our toes. Information on this site was gathered on June 1 2019; if you notice information that needs updating please let us know. For the full reference list please see the following.
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[1]CSIRO, “State of the Climate.”5.
[2]Victoria State Government, “Climate-Ready Victoria: Gippsland,” (Melbourne2015).2.
[3]“Australian Climate Change Site Data – Sale”, Bureau of Meteorology, access April 23 2019, http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/climate/hqsites/site_data.cgi?variable=maxT&area=aus&station=085072&dtype=anom&period=annual&ave_yr=0
[4]“History of TFBs,” CFA, accessed April 29, 2019, https://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/warnings-restrictions/history-of-tfbs
[5]Chris Pedler, “CFA maps show central Victoria is significantly drier than last year,” Bendigo Advertiser, published Octorber 23, 2018, https://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/5717049/cfa-heatmaps-show-how-dry-central-victoria-is-compared-to-last-year/
[6]CSIRO, “State of the Climate.”2.
[7]Climate Council, “Climate Change and the Victoria Bushfire Threat: Update 2017,” (Sydney2017).15.
[10]Joshua Whittaker, John Handmer, and David Mercer, “Vulnerability to Bushfires in Rural Australia: A Case Study from East Gippsland, Victoria,” Journal of Rural Studies28, no. 2 (2012).168.
[11]“Agriculture in Victoria,” Agriculture Victoria, accessed April 29, 2019, http://agriculture.vic.gov.au/agriculture