Beyond Zero talks to David Shearman Doctors for the Environment

Beyond Zero talks to Dr Andrew Watkins from the National Climate Centre at the Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology and Professor David Shearman from Doctors for the Environment.

Dr Andrew Watkins

The interview began with mention of the record temperatures experienced recently.

Is this evidence of a new climate regime?

Records are being broken which is always going to happen. But with climate change there is a shift in distribution. The extremes are changing as well (not just averages) and this is what is concerning.

A climatologist looks at whether extremes of climate have changed, for example, the number of days over 30 degrees.

Sometimes we can only be certain retrospectively when analysing trends. There is other evidence, however, that indicate claimate change is real, such as: – the reduced inflows (runoff) into the Murray Darling system. Runoff is affected by dryness in soil and the health of vegetation (evapotranspiration). – 12 years of dry conditions in Sth-Eastern Australia. Weather systems seem to have shifted south.

Asked what the role of the Bureau is, Dr Watkins stated that it was to report accurately and without bias; to do seasonal forecasting and provide information for analysis; and to work with researchers to examine what might happen in Australia in the future.

Dr Watkins said he was concerned about what he was seeing and each new research paper is telling us things are more serious than originally thought. He said he did not know of any climatologists that thought otherwise.

Pressed on what he thought about government policy and what people should do to influence change, Dr Watkins reiterated that his role was get the facts out and then people could do whatever they felt comfortable with, with this information.

Professor David Shearman (Adelaide University)

Professor Shearman was asked what he saw as main issues and he responded that the overwhelming issue of our time was climate change. He sees this as a health issue – health and the survival of the human species! He is intent on educating the public and getting the government moving. He pointed out the environmental consequences of an unhealthy lifestyle and that a healthy lifestyle tended to respect the environment.

The Doctors for the Environment’s Vision Statement expresses concern for the consequences of climate change such as heat stroke, injury from fire and storms, infectious diseases and social disruption.

Speaking of the recent tragic fires in Victoria, Professor Shearman said that the fires themselves were not due to climate change but that their intensity was, as were the extreme winds. Cliamte change is intensifying weather patterns.

He believes that the politicians do not understand. If, for example, the frequency of bushfires increases from 1 in 25 years to 1 in 15 the this creates a huge burden on the community although it may only mean one more bushfire in a person’s lifetime.

Professor Shearman spoke about the importance of carefully crafting the message. People, for example, can be left feeling helpless if they are too frightened. People need to be given knowledge in addition to power to act. Sometimes people may feel they have no control over their environment or their lives and become disillusioned, even when they recognise they are being harmed.

Dr. Shearman spoke of the need for transition – the plank of the Doctors for the Environment movement. Government fails to understand the speed we need to change or the measures needed to be taken. The message has not got through to them, yet corrections need to be made at the political level.

Climate change litigation?

Dr Shearman has co-authored a book on climate change and litigation which outlines what people can do to bring polluters to heel. Yet the law is limited in what it can do currently. A charter is needed that states that people have the right to live in environmentally clean and friendly situations.

Climate Change Litigation:
Analysing the law, scientific evidence & impacts on
the environment, health & property
By Dr Joseph Smith & Professor David Shearman