After the big fires that burned out a lot of Australia, we had a bit of peace from La Nina. The summers were relatively very mild. El Nino is now dropping in to say hello again despite many requests. A big and early cyclone is off the coast of Queensland. Heat warnings are out all over Australia.
These hot seasons can go on for actual decades. They are expensive and can be ecologically highly destructive. There are also regional droughts to play with, also costly. During the last big drought, kids grew up never seeing the color green except on screens.
Usually, a big dry spell is the outcome in Australia during an El Nino. El Ninos have been getting more severe, and that’s not news to anyone who can read. Just right to go with a maniacal cost of living extravaganza, with food prices possibly at risk for years on end. Agricultural regions usually take major financial hits in such times.
We have another problem which is arguably much worse. The alternative reality is that it’s not happening at all, according to someone who wasn’t asked. We’re making it up, perhaps.
Slow mentalities. The denialist madness in its Australian form equates to doing nothing at all about major big issues in basic national management. Water conservation, water table management, drought-proofing, you name it; there’s always some moron to prevent doing anything about it.
Presumably supporting criminal mass-murdering oil producers has some kind of upside in it for someone. Maybe pandering to voters who should never have been let out of kindergarten is a thing. That’s assuming they can take time off from polluting the planet and killing millions daily.
The media reaction is as usual inexcusably predictable. The Saudi-affiliated News media, like FOX, toe the line. So do most conservatives worldwide and the GOP. Our version is just a second-hand recital of these things.
Hard to figure it out, isn’t it?
No, it isn’t.
Droughts, floods, bushfires, and cyclones in Australia are about as predictable as sesame seed buns on a burger; they’ll definitely be there. We’ve done endless studies and research on it and not much has happened. The talk never translates into anything practical in these exotic mentalities.
Perhaps I should clarify, but bear with the elegant logic:
Multi-billion-dollar decade-long continuous disasters are not fictional.
Nor are the money and misery they cost.
The huge numbers of destroyed homes, livelihoods, and ongoing trauma aren’t fictional, either.
All of these mega climate problems were predicted 30 years ago. They’ve all happened, and there’s a gigantic balance sheet to prove it to the dummies.
The kind of people who make a living out of denialism are the same people who were anti-vaxx during the pandemic.
95% of Australia was vaccinated in about six months. Infection rates have never since looked anything like the peak of the pandemic.
It follows that about 5% are pretending climate issues are fictional. That’s the level of actual support the denialists have on just about any subject.
If you’re talking politics, consider this totally unavoidable political future: The Millennials and Gen Z don’t believe a word of it. No reason why they should. The people sending them broke for the rest of their “lives” aren’t exactly credible to them.
The answer really is blowing in the wind, and it’s killing people.
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Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.
