The carbon debate is here to stay
If Al Gore had won the 2000 US Presidential election instead of George W Bush, the carbon debate would have evolved much earlier.
The sceptics may have a point when they raise the issue that Australia is a young country in terms of rainfall records, and the present could be just part of a long term cycle. On the other hand, there is a significant amount of evidence to support the case that greenhouse gases are contributing to what we are currently experiencing. We need to consider the ramifications at the times when the two processes combine There always has been cycles of wet and dry, but now there is the potential for more extreme patterns.
Alan Dupont of the Lowy Institute made an interesting comment recently. "People do not have a realistic sense of the magnitude of likely future climate change because scientists have largely failed to communicate the significance of their findings in a way the public can understand. Simply citing mean temperatures does not give a true sense of their importance. The earth was only 5 degrees cooler during the most recent ice age".
While rural producers need to understand landscape carbon issues for their own financial security (to increase both short and long term production), there are greater processes that they will become invovled in, concerning carbon. It will become important that they can represent to the rest of society (the other stakeholders) that they are responsible. As an example, land management and how it impacts on the Great Barrier Reef is already being scrutinised. It will become obvious that the level of success of rural producers in their carbon management will significantly impact on the volume of nutrients introduced onto the Great Barrier Reef.
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