Veronika Wild

Please note: The incidents mentioned below occurred during extreme heat on some of our most remote roads in outback Australia, but many of the lessons apply to anyone driving in the heat.  I started making notes about this for my son, who was travelling North across inland Australia with his family at the time, but thought they might be useful for others too, especially tourists who may never have encountered such conditions before. Australia’s inland regions can reach temperatures well above 45°C in summer. As I write Melbourne is having 45 o  C degrees  and a little place called Ouyen, along the Murray is having 48.9 o  C. Long distances, limited services, and intense heat all mean that what is merely uncomfortable in towns and cities, can be positively dangerous beyond them. Avoid Travel if Possible The best thing is of course, to avoid travel during heatwaves if at all possible, but if you must travel, here’s a list of things which certainly apply to Austral...

It was perfect Australia Day weather -about 34 o C, so a friend and I took ourselves down to the beach. Australia Day was not traditionally about marching or flag waving – I get nervous around chanting mobs. No, it’s to celebrate what’s great about Australia   - sunshine, beaches, being able to go camping in the bush and maybe having a BBQ afterwards, though these days most likely on a gas fired public BBQ or portable propane stove please - there are too many bushfires burning already.  Not many people yet - a few dog walkers, ball players, children in the playground Those ‘traditions’ are at least 60,000 years old and should be carried forward.   Newer ones include announcing public honours for those who have done us proud and to welcome our newest citizens who’ve served their time – minimum 4 years – to all those who claim Citizenship and immigration are to bring in more like – minded voters, and some enlightened councils also present their new Aussies with a nativ...

  Farming contributes to climate change but is also among the first sectors to feel its impact. As I write, farmers are lamenting huge stock losses in Far North Queensland   due to “unprecedented" flooding. In the South it is due to bushfires. Rather than being enlisted to fight against Net Zero, progressive farmers are reducing their own impacts by measures such electrifying machinery, transport, lighting, and refrigeration, planting intermediate crops and using no-till farming to retain soil moisture and carbon.  In this section we will look at some of the major global agriculture and climate policy initiatives and how these are transmitted to farmers and shared.  For the purposes of this post, Mitigation means broad measures to reduce the impact of Climate Change, while Adaptation refers to measures adopted to overcome its most serious consequences especially with respect to food security. In many cases the measures adopted do both and some even increase crop yi...