[Forum] This letter is in response to Godfrey Franz’s letter which appeared in Coast Community News 229.
Within his incoherent ramble, he asks for facts and photos.
If he wanted photos he need look no further than the front page of edition 229, which shows floods with the headline “State of national disaster declared”.
This occurred right on the back of the biggest bush fire season, that started in NSW during August, 2019.
Mr Franz might not see these links due to his ideological blinkers, or maybe he realised that climate change is having an impact on every level of society, including fire management.
NSW RFS Chief, Shane Fitzgibbons, stated in 2014 that: “Climate change is forcing a rethink on fire risk”.
In 2020, during the mega blazes, he acknowledged: “With climate change we know that the fire seasons are starting earlier and finishing later”.
In relation to his questions on sea level rise, instead of gazing at Brisbane Water, Mr Franz may want to read the facts from the Australian Academy of Sciences that show both satellite and coastal sea-level data on the rate of rise globally and in Australia, at an average rate of 2.1mm/year over the past half century.
Marine Science Australia also records the facts of sea level rise in Coastal Australia calculated from long term averaged tide gauge records and satellite altimetry.
Mr Franz states Federal Member for Robertson, Lucy Wicks, researches the facts.
Well I suggest that before she votes with her conscience on the Climate Change Bill in parliament, she checks the facts on climate change impacts on the economy, environment and society, from the Bureau Meteorology (BOM), CSIRO, Australian Institute of Architecture, The Planning Institute of Australia (PIA), Marine Science Australia, Engineers Australia, NASA and the myriad of other institutions that society depends on for facts, not joe blog from the corner pub, or an avowed Liberal Party member.
Email, Feb 18
Mark Ellis, Woy Woy