Hello and welcome to another issue of (De)Extinction Club. I mean nothinghere_. You’re at the combination DXC / NH super bleak look at just how fucked things are looking for the continent 3/4ths of us here call home.
Forget the nightmare fuel of the rather Day After Tomorrow-smelling likely scenario of ‘a major ocean current hitting a tipping point’ and all the ‘fun’ that might follow that. No, we’re locked 'n loaded and seeing things are just as fucked as they already are. (But if that’s enough for you to go out and start seeding the global ecosocialist revolution, don’t let me stop you.)
Witness a continent that is very normal, well managed, and totally not ravaged by 200+ years of colonisation.
Want more than a pretty infoviz? Here’s a 3min explainer video from our ABC. Feel free to stop at watching that, and idk… go out to join the local Extinction Rebellion chapter - then ask ‘em if they’ll ever do more than performative shit at Shopping Centres or whatever it is they’re doing these days. I stopped reading those emails. I am the guy who’s hoping the - likely false, VERY FALSE, frankly too good to be true - rumour that Greta is getting pro-tips from Ted Kaczynski on some more effective actions. [Disclaimer: All opinions are mine and not those of the secret dark forces that whisper to me at night. Or is that just my dog? Who insists on rewatching Mr Pickles with me lately for some reason.]
See, now you’re laugh crying. Time to deploy the blockquotes.
"Among the most shocking examples of collapse in the past couple of decades are the near freefall decline of sub-alpine forests across NSW and Victoria, where fires are now too frequent for the species to seed and grow, and the disappearance of Tasmania’s once omnipresent giant kelp forests due to marine heatwaves and the arrival of urchins that thrive in warmer waters. The best-known example is the unprecedented three mass bleaching events to hit the Great Barrier Reef in just five years, causing significant coral death."
“The issue is we don’t currently have a government that is tackling this.”
Source: The disaster movie playing in Australia's wild places – and solutions that could help hit pause
Now I know this is gonna be shocking to anyone with the stomach to follow the news in this country rn. Like, for some reason we’re not about to have a snap Federal election following a series of scandals coming from inside the halls of power. The same halls of power where they have genius-level thinking… like the bright idea of ‘natural gas-led recovery’ following COVID’s impact on the Almighty Economy. Where ‘Funding for environment department and related programs were cut by more than a third after the Coalition was elected in 2013.’ It’s just chin up mate and drive on. SHE’LL BE RIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT (unless she’s making accusations of sexual assault).
Among the examples in the report are the alpine ash forests of Victoria, which were found to be so frequently hit by fire that they often did not have enough time to produce seeds. In response, scientists had begun planting hybrid species that may cope better in the changed conditions.
...the idea that nature would take its own course was still pervasive, it was now time “to actually interfere with nature because we’re losing too much if we don’t”.
Source: Australian scientists warn urgent action needed to save 19 'collapsing' ecosystems
The one good thing this summer is that the only cities choking on bushfire smoke were on the west coast (aka Perth n frenz) of the country this time. Which was cool, coz it gave scientists a chance to survey the damage on the east coat from last year’s megafires. Spoiler alert, it’s not great:
More than 100 plant species had their entire populations burned in the Black Summer bushfires, according to the most detailed study yet of the impact on Australia’s plants.
An estimated 816 species had at least half the areas they grow burned, according to estimates in the study, and some ecosystems are now at risk of “regeneration failure”
Godfree said: “The impacts of these fires was certainly unprecedented in their scale. They impacted more plant species in a single fire season since anything that’s happened since European settlement, possibly longer.”
Since European settlement… AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE, OI OI OI! Feel the pride. Witness our accomplishments. Like, wiping out 10% of land mammals and one reptile species. Only the supremely fucked nation of Haiti comes close to that.
"When dingoes are removed, kangaroo numbers increase, which can lead to overgrazing," he said.
"This has follow-on effects to the entire ecosystem."
But the sheep. The Sheep. THE SHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP. The sheep must live. The squattocracy must endure. The fervent, flag-draped Australian Nationalists need their lamb on the bbq, maaaaate.
This - dingos vs sheep - is, of course, the same kinda old think that made George Monbiot infamous with his ‘wolves shape the courses of rivers’ TEDTalks n such.
And dingoes don’t just control the kangaroo numbers (which are delicious btw), they keep the feral cats in check - which are the chief cause of that 10% extinction rate, if you didn’t click thru on that already.
But it’s cool. It’s totally cool. It’s just that nature thingy wotsit that’s ‘outside’ that’s collapsing. The bulk of us, we’ll be safe in our cities. Right? RIIIGHT? (NOPE). And I have no way to make this funny. Sorry. It’s just straight out horrific. Death by Urban Heat Islands - roasted alive by asphalt to keep car culture alive:
While warming cities will present a problem for most people, a "heat gap" has emerged between richer and poorer areas, the report said.
Typically, poorer areas have less green space and vegetation than wealthy suburbs.
The quote that has haunted me since last year’s megafires was talk of small towns becoming ‘indefensible’. The future looks like entire suburbs increasingly written off as uninhabitable. But they can just move right? To where?! Insert that viral video Ben Shapiro responder video… here.
If only there was something we could do about it. If only, there was science and research… and a willingless to act upon it. Not a conversation about the future being hijacked by Technocratic Billionaire Saviour Bullshit. Grifters pitching an escape to Mars.
If only there were new political parties emerging offering something other than a hellride down Fury Road. (Yes, other me - I know… I KNOW - the people who hate people party is a really bad idea tho…).
And this is where I end up stalling out. It’s just all too much. Maybe I shouldn’t be spending my nights watching shows like Fauda - and seeing Palestine as our future. Cities and countries divided, not by ethno-religious occupations, but purely economic. Coup by Authoritian Neoliberalism… and only Adam Curtis monologues to make sense of it all.
The rest I’ll save for my novel. If I ever live to finish it. LOL.
In the meantime, plant a tree or a shrub or a potted plant if you can. And you have my permission to seed bomb vacant lots with extreme predjudice.
Here’s some further reading that totally isn’t links I haven’t managed to already work into the above:
Combating ecosystem collapse from the tropics to the Antarctic [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.15539]
The tragedy of conservation [https://www.facetsjournal.com/doi/full/10.1139/facets-2020-0072]
Assisting Evolution: How Far Should We Go to Help Species Adapt? [https://e360.yale.edu/features/assisting-evolution-how-far-should-we-go-to-help-species-adapt]
How to grow liveable worlds: Ten (not-so-easy) steps for life in the Planthroposcene [https://www.abc.net.au/religion/natasha-myers-how-to-grow-liveable-worlds:-ten-not-so-easy-step/11906548]
Thanks for reading…