The strident, often angry, rhetoric that has marked the release of previous reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports was noticeably absent from Friday's pronouncement. It wasn't because the IPCC's findings lacked gravity either. With a draft of the report having leaked beforehand, there were few surprises in Friday's official assessment. What it showed was further extensive corroboration of the warming effects of the approximately 500 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide that has been burned by humankind since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere are higher than at any time in the past 800,000 years, glaciers are retreating and sea ice is melting faster that it was a decade ago. True, global temperatures have not risen as fast as previously forecast, but climate scientists now believe this is because some of the heat has been stored in the deep oceans, and because volcanic dust has helped block heat from the sun reaching the Earth. As for the likelihood humanity is responsible for warming, the IPCC increased its assessment from 90 per cent to 95 per cent.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The IPCC's decision to release only a 36-page summary of the 2013 report may be the reason the response to Friday has been relatively low-key, and once the full 900-page document is handed down next week, climate sceptics will come forth to find fault with the science and the methodology. Certainly, the IPCC's previous reports have contained assertions that proved unfounded. Moreover, the organisation has also been accused of exaggeration and fabrication of evidence. The other possible explanation for the muted response is that climate-change fatigue has set in. That may explain why the IPCC has established a global ''carbon budget'' of 1 trillion tonnes, further release of which would trigger irreversible and dangerous climatic changes. It estimates that, at present rates of burn, the budget of 1 trillion tonnes will be reached around 2040.
Uncertainties about global warming remain, of course, just as there is the possibility that warming may be attributed to natural climate variability. But with each passing year, the evidence mounts that warming is increasing and that this has serious ramifications. Thankfully, governments and policymakers increasingly seem to be of the view that an effective response is needed. The task ahead is to ensure that a meaningful international agreement can be reached at the UN's next conference on climate change in Paris in 2015. Another failure of the sort that occurred at Copenhagen in 2009 would be unthinkable.
Celebration fittingly authentic
Queanbeyan marked the 175th anniversary of its founding (by NSW Governor George Gipps) at the weekend with modest but lively celebrations worthy of one of the southern tablelands' most historic towns. Goulburn and Yass are older and, though they might boast somewhat grander civic amenities, neither is growing at the exuberant pace of Queanbeyan. That reflects, of course, Queanbeyan's proximity to the ACT and its obvious attractions as a base for people working in Canberra or doing business there. Not for nothing did Queanbeyan's civic elders lobby intensively for the establishment of the national capital downstream of the Molonglo.
Of course, most Canberrans - perhaps spoilt by the national city's year-long, Skywhale-filled centenary celebrations - probably overlooked Queanbeyan's milestone at the weekend, and therein lies the NSW town's predicament: it is an indispensable element of the territory's economy and social fabric (and its history), but it is often overshadowed by its neighbour. Not that the epithet ''struggle town'' is viewed as anything less than a badge of honour by proud residents who know and appreciate Queanbeyan's charms. Indeed, the warmth and authenticity of Saturday's quaint civic parade seemed in stark contrast to the tone of some of Canberra's centenary celebrations - and the good folk of Queanbeyan probably wouldn't have it any other way. Happy birthday, Queanbeyan.
