AQ Australian Quarterly — October-December 2017

4 AusTRAlIAN QuARTeRlY OCT–DEC 2017

ArTiCLE TiTLE

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iMAGE: © Takver - Flickr

as it occurred to me that they are

likely to see the reef die around them;

gradually boiled to death.

The Great Barrier Reef is under serious

threat from climate change. Already, an

estimated 50 per cent of the reef – the

world’s largest living organism – is dead

or dying.^1 We came to Heron Island for

a family holiday after years of promising

our son we would visit the ‘reef that’s

dying’. It breaks my heart to hear him

call it this, but that’s nothing compared

to my rising panic over the other envi-

ronmental changes he and his sister will

see in their lifetime.

In 2013, before being defunded

by the government, the Climate

Commission warned that 80 per cent of

known global fossil fuel reserves would

have to stay in the ground if we hope

to keep global temperature increases

below 2° centigrade, and thereby

potentially avoid catastrophic climate

change.^2

These warnings have not gone

unheeded by the Australian

community, with a 2013 survey finding

THE GovERnMEnT’S

RESponSE To CoMMUnITY

RESISTAnCE IS CHILLInG.