In the past few days we have seen the destruction created by Cyclone Yolanda, the strongest ever cyclone yet witnessed in the Philippines. My wife Jane, comes from Ormoc City, 2 hours by road from Tacloban, the city largely featured in the news. I have visited Tacloban many times as well as stayed in Guiuan where Yolanda first made land fall. Some 10,000 people have died with an estimated 600,000 people homeless. Of course those suffering the most are the poorest. On a personal note Jane’s family are all alive though many other families have not been so lucky.
We could put Yolanda down to just freak occurrence or mischance for those effected but climate experts tell us that with warming oceans we should expect more such severe cyclones.
Locally, with Sydney having temperatures 2-3 degrees above the long term average and with early devastating bushfires one must ask, will we ever learn? In the face of a government moving this very day to undo the most effective way of limiting carbon use by taxing it, one can’t help but wonder, do we have a Freudian death wish?
We could put Yolanda down to just freak occurrence or mischance for those effected but climate experts tell us that with warming oceans we should expect more such severe cyclones.
Locally, with Sydney having temperatures 2-3 degrees above the long term average and with early devastating bushfires one must ask, will we ever learn? In the face of a government moving this very day to undo the most effective way of limiting carbon use by taxing it, one can’t help but wonder, do we have a Freudian death wish?