In the current era of Greta-strophic climate change, our journalistic class seem to have lost all sense of curiosity and inquiry and, instead, serve up re-heated statements without bothering to confirm the source of “facts”.
This is classic case; surf life saving club building under threat from climate change.
At Inverloch south east of Melbourne, locals are desperately trying to defend the local surf life-saving club from erosion that has pushed the shore line back a remarkable 50 metres in seven years.
Since January alone, the ocean has encroached 20 metres more on the beach, as truckloads of imported sand and a “wet” sand fence have failed to hold back the tides.
Gosh, that’s really bad. I hadn’t realised the ocean had risen so quickly.
Because, according to even the IPCC’s data, the problem is one of the future not the present:
Anyone who has ever had to read a graph for a living will take one look at that, fold their arms, suck their teeth and wonder what the presenter is trying to sell them.
I’m not saying the chart doesn’t prove the sea level is just about to start rising dramatically, but it’s some helluva coincidence that all the bad stuff happens….. tomorrow.
Back to the article. Recall, the headline and article state categorically that the building by the beach is about to be washed away due to climate change of the catastrophic, man made variety, no less. Yet….
While erosion is part of the natural cycle of shifting sand at the mouth of the Anderson Inlet, the Bass Coast shire is in no doubt the extent of change is due in part to climate change and rising seas.
“Our council accepts that climate change is a real thing,” says Bass Coast mayor Brett Tessari. “The impact in our municipality is horrific in some areas. The surf club is in danger.”
Rightie ho.
Or in other words, this has always been an erosion hot spot but the mayor absolutely knows that it’s significantly worse because of climate change.
Go on then, Mayor Tessari, how much worse? 5%? 90%? The journalists obviously forgot to ask such an awkward follow-up question.
Up the coast, climate change has resulted in the easiest type of generosity.
What’s the easiest type of generosity, I hear you ask?
The type where you give away someone else’s money.
If you have more than 10 halogen down-lights installed in your house, the NSW government has generously offered to use money taken from ratepayers who don’t have 10 or more halogen down-lights to pay for every such light in your house to be replaced.
Let’s just pose a question here for a moment; which type of property has tastefully-installed down-lights installed rather than nasty dangling light bulbs?
Bill’s Opinion
Every way one turns, there’s yet another example of a politician using man made climate change as an excuse to dip into someone else’s wallet to buy votes.
Perhaps man made catastrophic climate change is real. Perhaps it’s not. What is absolutely certain, however, it is a wicked way to exercise power over others whilst claiming righteousness.
Climate change is, in many ways, indistinguishable from a massive confidence trick.
I used to take the kids to Inverloch back in the day. If you left your towel down up on the high beach and between two tides chances are it would have been converted to an ox bow lake and you would have lost it. Like you say fuck all to do with climate change and if anything proof positive that there is no global warming, the water temperature there in mid summer is at Baltic levels.
Yep. Let’s face it though, when the Mayor of some town in Buttfucksville can make such a claim without challenge, logic and facts have been long lost.
However, I must take issue with this exaggeration:
“… water temperature there in mid summer is at Baltic levels.”
I’ve swam off this place in March. Now THAT’S Baltic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribersborgs_open-air_bath
From the men’s bathing platform, you can see the beautiful naked Swedish women swimming. Unfortunately, any semblance of masculinity shrunk to macrometer-measured proportions about 3 seconds after hitting the water.
That’s not to shabby, best I done was a dip in the sea off Mud Island on New Years day.
Oh and Inverloch is a nice place, Eddie McGuire has a weekender there.
That last sentence has an internal contradiction!
I met McGuire at a sports event I competed in (and won… ahem) in London some years ago.
My initial impression was, “who is this fat drunk arrogant twat?”
First impressions are rarely wrong, it would seem.
I swam off a little beach (Piskie?) on the isle of Harris in August and I didn’t think I’d make it back to shore alive. That was in 1974 so by now it’s probably tropical, lol.
Well, back in 2011 after Cylcone Yasi they were growing bananas there cheaper than in Queen’sland.
Or at least I assume they were based on the relative prices.