The other day in Mullumbimby, I struck up a conversation with a lovely person on a tree-lined street. After the usual pleasantries, we moved on to a subject dear to the hearts of English ex-pats like me – the weather.
She was fed up. The relentless wet had worn her down. ‘I’ve never known rain like this,’ she said. (Really? I thought.) But what was driving her mad was the mould. It was everywhere. ‘Even the mould has mould,’ she chuckled. The war against this nasty furry encroachment was endless – clove oil, lavender, vinegar, bleach – an arsenal of remedies, all failing. ‘I’m over it,’ she sighed.
Then we got onto climate change. We talked about predictions of even heavier rainfall for the Northern Rivers, triggered mainly by warming oceans. I mentioned the IPCC reports which were forecasting more inundation, flash floods, and major flooding in our region.
‘Our future looks decidedly soggy,’ I observed, adding that Queensland’s old mantra – ‘Beautiful one day, perfect the next’ – was a joke.
That didn’t exactly brighten her day. So, we began fantasising about relocating somewhere with Mediterranean-style weather. We concluded that even Tasmania wasn’t safe – fires are not uncommon. ‘See you in Siberia,’ I quipped as we parted ways.
This kind of conversation is happening everywhere. More and more of us realise that if you want to avoid climate chaos, then Australia isn’t the best bet. Not that most of us have a choice. And it’s not just me saying this – it’s report after report, scientist after scientist.
For years now, experts have warned us about greenhouse gases and biodiversity destruction. Governments talk up ‘clean energy’ but simultaneously grant fossil fuel licenses left, right, and centre. Banks, super funds, and fossil fuel corporations are knotted in bed together, pouring money into dirty energy while Trump chants ‘Drill, baby, drill.’ Nihilistic and mad? Absolutely.
But the billionaires don’t care. In the US, these end-times fascists are looking for an escape – gated bunkers with oxygen-rich air, and even other planets. The rest of us, of course, will just have to cope.
Some scientists predict we’ll exceed 2 degrees Celsius within a decade, blowing the 1.5-degree threshold set in Paris in 2015. That means vanishing ice sheets, rising oceans, more storms, fires, and floods – disruptions that will shake economies and societies to their core.
The reality is that environmental destruction is reshaping life on Earth. We’ve had our fair share of extreme weather in the Northern Rivers, but disasters are unfolding globally – every single day.
Maybe you think all this is nonsense, some grand conspiracy to control us or make the rich even richer. Well, enjoy the fantasy, because we’re entering the dystopian age of a post-Holocene world.
The main game right now isn’t mitigation. Sure, money is flowing into ‘clean energy,’ but it’s still pouring into fossil fuels too. The real focus now is adaptation – how we build a liveable future, or at least learn to respond rather than react to what’s unfolding.
That’s why Plan C’s community resilience expert Jean Renouf and the equally formidable Professor Ian Lowe will be reflecting on our climate predicament. They may differ on the nature, pace, and scale of the unfolding disaster, but they share a commitment to ensuring we understand the science – and take collective action to cope with what’s coming. It’s a conversation worth hearing.
So, join us at M-Arts, 19 June for a good night out! Tickets available at thisstuffmatters.my.canva.site or at the door.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
