Will we start to see refugees from Australia?

[BettyJean]

Just wondering if anyone thinks this will be likely, given recent events are predicted to not just be the new normal but get worse.

Of course a lot of Aussies have dual citizenship - either because they’ve migrated there, married a Brit, have an ancestry visa. So people selling up, moving here and travelling here legally may not look like the refugees we’ve seen before. It might not even be that noticeable given Aussies are English speaking and have a similar education system to us.

If the fire season is as bad next year and the year after and the year after... If the water shortages continue... If I was living in those circumstances and had access to a life in another country, I’d seriously think about it.

@keyboardwarrior1 Exactly. There's more to our current fires than climate change, but the other factors don't sell as many papers or generate as many clicks as the fires do.
The government does believe in climate change, but when the country's economy depends on fossil fuels it's not as simple as ending mining.
Also, the federal government is being blamed when most of the responsibility for the fire services and management of bush land rests with the state governments. We also had massive upheavals with our fire services before the bushfire season and probably not enough investment in equipment.
It's not as simple as saying climate change was denied and it's caused fires.

In reply to your original post, I don't think so. Australian's are a pretty adaptable lot. You grow up being conservative with power and water and with lifestyles that cope with the sun and heat.

Yes, this is an incredibly horrific year for fire, there is no denying it and mitigation measures need a drastic rethink to get the right balance. But to think that significant levels of people will start leaving the country to escape climate change in generations to come is unlikely.

Waterwise, the Sydney desalination is powered by a wind farm if I remember correctly (I am happy to stand corrected if not), so I am sure that other desal plants can be adapted if they are not already.

Australia has a reliance on fossil fuels, without a doubt there is too much reliance on the mining industry and it is acknowledged that this does need to change. I would also be keen to see how the 'export' of Australian coal and gas to the rest of the world effects those emissions statistics vs actual domestic emission.

@Eve

Well hopefully we’ll be able to buy some water off Scotland, rather than going to war over it, if it comes to that.

I live in the North West, we should have plenty of water. United Utilities is terrible for waste though. They should be forced to fix the infrastructure.

@managedmis

Given their climate, I’m surprised that Australia isn’t a leader in solar power.

www.energy.gov.au/households/solar-pv-and-batteries

Australia has the highest uptake of solar globally, with more than 21% of homes with rooftop solar PV. As at 31 October 2019 more than 2.23 million rooftop solar power systems have been installed across Australia.

theconversation.com/australia-is-the-runaway-global-leader-in-building-new-renewable-energy-123694

www.finder.com/uk/nation-most-solar-power

Depends on your source. Mine says Australia is 8th, behind the rainy old UK.

Sadly, there was also some reports lately that many solar roof installations are substandard which does not help. This means that ultimately, there was the intention but it may not be working as planned.

You are correct that sources need to be checked BettyJean. I recently read a Blomberg article that also aligns with the other reports that around 21% of houses in Australia have PVs on the roof. This makes over 6 million vs the 4 million in the UK on the finder.com stats. However, this is PVs on houses and not the country's overall usage of solar energy, of course.

I am merely pointing out that Australia is working hard in this area.

I believe however, that large scale solar farms are coming on line each year so this will also keep changing of course

Here is the Bloomberg article if you are interested. www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-15/australians-love-rooftop-panels-that-s-a-problem-for-big-solar

I think Australia is literally the canary in the coal mine for climate change.

I feel sorry for the wildlife. Koala’s have lost 95% of their habitat due to humans colonising Australia, and its suddenly got worse due to the fires.

I think the migration of humans from Aus will be gradual, it will be the wealthy and those that already have citizenship of another country or those that can get a skilled visa elsewhere. They’ll just slip into Europe/North America unnoticed and Australia’s population will go down gradually.

It wouldn’t surprise me if wealthy Aussies already have a bolt hole somewhere less likely to be impacted, although they won’t be publicising this.

Sorry that 6 million should be 2 million. A typo. It'd be nice if it was 6 though.

@BettyJean

It’s not just Brits that Aussies have links with. There’s been a fair bit of immigration and therefore marriage and family building with the Irish, Greek, Italians, Dutch too.

Given their climate, I’m surprised that Australia isn’t a leader in solar power.

^^

Exactly! They should be the forerunners!

newsthump.com/2020/01/16/countries-to-step-up-efforts-to-blame-different-countries-for-climate-crisis/

@captainbuttock

Thanks @AdaKirkby