17 November 2009

Finding the Self Interest Story

Loss of polar bears? Meh. Retreating glaciers? What? Climate refugees? Nowt to do with me...

My HOME under threat and I can't get insurance??? Something needs to be done about that!

Excerpt from The Australian, 14 November 2009

'Almost 250,000 homes, now worth up to $63 billion, will be "at risk of inundation" by the end of the century, under "worst-case but plausible" predictions of rising sea levels.

The study - released ahead of the crucial Senate vote on Labor's emissions trading scheme - modelled the effect of a 1.1m sea-level rise on cities and towns around Australia.

This is a higher level than the 79cm end-of-century rise predicted by the last Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, but in the mid-range of some subsequently published research.

It found between 157,000 and 247,000 homes "at risk of inundation" - meaning they would be permanently flooded or frequently flooded by storm surges or king tides - with hospitals, water-treatment plants and other public buildings also found to be at risk.

Even Sydney airport would be at "increased risk" of inundation, according to the study, written by the Department of Climate Change with input from CSIRO, Geosciences Australia and scores of academics.'

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