Rapid and radical change a must

As much as I’d like to think that climate change considerations will be part of an ‘urgent but peaceful and consultative process’, who could have thought the nonattendance to such ideals would turn into fights on the fuel station forecourt and looting at the first opportunity?

Well, I didn’t, but that’s what happened on New Zealand's east coast when Cyclone Gabrielle powered through on February 14.

In an ironic twist, this Valentine’s Day visitor created a real horror story as some residents floated up to the ceiling inside their homes and had to break their way into the crawl space above to save themselves.

But it was much, much worse than that. People lost their lives, their crops, and a future many thought would never be anything less than sunny. Oh, but of course, with the odd shower in between just to keep everything growing nicely.

For me, the toughest tale to handle was the experience of one young couple as they waded through water up to their necks almost, each with a child on their shoulders. The mother, who was pregnant, was unable to keep her footing. She slipped in the raging flood water, and her two-year-old daughter was wrenched from her arms and died. I can’t imagine coping with that. It’s more than horror - that’s sheer terror.

In his review of the background to this tragedy (P48), Professor David Norton, refers to the ‘looming” problem of climate change. He makes it clear that the essential issue was man-made. We knew that area was vulnerable, and we never did enough about it.

As I write, I can sense the reaction of our Australian readers, who are more than familiar with the problems created by massive flooding and devastating bushfires. Somehow I feel a Homer Simpson moment here with them saying, “doh”, what did you expect? Well, we just joined the club.

Now, in New Zealand, there is a collective acceptance that

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climate change is here.

And it’s raising all sorts of practical questions like, should I buy a house at the top of a cliff or the bottom? The good news about buying at the bottom is that you don’t die by sliding down the hill; the hill comes down on top of you instead. Either way, you’re either dead or devastated. And what about buying near a stream? Where does it drain, and what price do I pay for a home in a known flood zone?

In an article on p55, you can discover how researchers have assessed climate change risks on the US property market. The numbers will differ down under, of course, but the problem is the same – some of our property prices are way overvalued. Apart from the shocking damage on Auckland’s west coast, the destruction down New Zealand’s east coast was near Biblical in parts. We've been warned that access to some communities may not be restored. It's all expected to cost billions of dollars.

We’re in for a bunfight. Some homeowners are demanding Government buy their properties now while the Government talks about “managed retreat”. Surely, we’ve entered a time when rapid and radical change is our best hope.

Food and climate change are intrinsically connected, a point covered by Brenda Davis on p40. She challenges us with an exercise in logic that questions how we ‘know’ some things. Take milk, for instance. That’s where we humans get our calcium, right?

Well, Davis is pretty knowledgeable on nutrients and their origins, but the point she makes questions the purpose of the cow in the first place – in relation to humans anyway. For her, “it defies rationality to imagine that any mammal would require the milk of another species for its survival.” Surely, it defies the laws of nature, she says.

But we can make a difference and people like Katarina Tawiri (p14) are an inspirational starting point. Learn, change yourself, and take action at a community level.

Viewpoints

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Editor: Peter Barclay e: peter@wholefoodliving.life

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Contributions & Assistance

Contributions & assistance on this issue is gratefully acknowledged from the following: Innes Hope, Janice Carter, Padman Sadasivam, Karen Crowley, Dr Mark Craig, Dr Martyn Williamson, Katarina Tawiri, Nicole Morgan, Dr Ralph Koelmeyer, Silva Mirovics, Divya Kachwalla, Florentina Lile,