IN ORDER to understand the full scale of the grave economic threat to Australia posed by climate change, it is necessary to fully consider the science on recent temperature increases.
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The latest studies suggest that much of the extra heat trapped in the atmosphere has been taken up by the oceans.
According to this theory, the pattern will be reversed around the end of the decade and the stored heat will be rapidly returned to the atmosphere.
In the absence of this atmospheric heat, Ballarat is already showing a 20-30 per cent rainfall deficit for the year to date and a steady increase in average maximum and minimum temperatures.
When the oceanic heat is released, the catastrophic drought of just a few years ago could be followed within the next decade with conditions that are much more severe.
In these circumstances, the push for renewable energy and more efficient transport will escalate overnight. The value of fossil fuels will plummet. The economy will stagger under the impact upon financial institutions and unemployment will skyrocket.
Commonsense demands that we act now to prevent this economic chaos and embrace the opportunity to be at the forefront of the renewable energy future.
We must maintain the current Renewable Energy Target at all costs.
