Accessibility Tools

  • Content scaling 100%
  • Font size 100%
  • Line height 100%
  • Letter spacing 100%

The Handbook: Surviving and living with climate change by Jane Rawson and James Whitmore

by
October 2015, no. 375

The Handbook: Surviving and living with climate change by Jane Rawson and James Whitmore

Transit Lounge Publishing, $29.95 pb, 320 pp, 9781921924934

The Handbook: Surviving and living with climate change by Jane Rawson and James Whitmore

by
October 2015, no. 375

Although the mantra ‘Don’t panic, but get prepared’ guides Jane Rawson and James Whitmore’s handbook for Surviving and Living with Climate Change, they certainly do not paint a pretty picture of climate-change Australia. The scenarios are alarming: Australia will be hotter, drier in some parts, wetter in others, with more frequent bushfires, floods, and heatwaves. Some parts of Australia are already showing signs of a changing climate – look no further than the south-west of the continent where rainfall has declined by ten to twenty per cent since the 1970s. Yet their detailed guide to preparing for, and adapting to, climate change offers a no-nonsense wake-up call to readers. They leave no doubt that the time for action is now.

As Clive Hamilton observes in the book’s foreword, it is an indictment on our political leaders that this Handbook has been written. If they had done more, we would not need to make these kinds of preparations. Alas, our current government gives us little cause for hope. It has dumped the carbon price and laid siege to the renewable energy industry, while coal remains king and ‘good for humanity’. Australia’s emissions target for Paris is extremely modest and is unlikely to be enough to halt global warming at 2°C. Some scientists argue that this benchmark, one of nine planetary boundaries, is already too great and that crossing this threshold will lead to disastrous consequences. Either way, it’s about time we adjusted to a new normal.

Ruth A. Morgan reviews 'The Handbook' by Jane Rawson and James Whitmore

The Handbook: Surviving and living with climate change

by Jane Rawson and James Whitmore

Transit Lounge Publishing, $29.95 pb, 320 pp, 9781921924934

Leave a comment

If you are an ABR subscriber, you will need to sign in to post a comment.

If you have forgotten your sign in details, or if you receive an error message when trying to submit your comment, please email your comment (and the name of the article to which it relates) to ABR Comments. We will review your comment and, subject to approval, we will post it under your name.

Please note that all comments must be approved by ABR and comply with our Terms & Conditions.