Drought, Floods Fuel Australian Climate Change Debate

A long drought and recent floods have intensified debate in Australia over climate change.Many Australians believe man's reliance on fossil fuels is warming the earth, while skeptics say it is all part of a natural cycle. Phil Mercer reports on Australia's climate change debate from a sheep farm near the outback town of Goulburn in New South Wales.Alix Turner sees his sheep farm in this rolling corner of New South Wales as a giant carbon sponge. He rotates his 1800 sheep through a series of fields.As a result Turner says the land is not overgrazed and can absorb greater levels of carbon dioxide.It enters the soil through a process called photosynthesis, where plants convert carbon dioxide into sugars.Turner says having large stretches of healthy pasture is good for the environment and improves the quality of the soil and the feed it produces."There is a total win-win situation between improving your soil carbon level and taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere," he said."The significance and value of this is grossly under-estimated because 75 percent of the carbon in the biosphere - that's the soil, the grass, the trees - 75 percent of the carbon is in the soil, not in the trees, and it's not being properly examined."Many scientists around the world think gas emissions from fossil fuels such as oil and coal contribute to global warming.They say one way to reduce the problem is through naturally offsetting carbon dioxide emissions by planting trees and protecting grasslands.Australia is in the grip of the worst drought anyone can remember. Many people think the "Big Dry" is the result of climate change and has-in part-been caused by use of fossil fuels.Not everyone, though, is convinced.
Tony Morrison is a livestock farmer near Goulburn. Like some scientists, he thinks the drought is part of a natural cycle."Of course it's climate change but the question is whether or not it's man-induced climate change and I don't believe it is," he said."I think it's quite ludicrous to consider that man can exert more influence on the climate than nature. I certainly wouldn't be predicting that this is the end of a drought. I would say we're in part of a 40 to 50 year dry-ish cycle in eastern Australia."Australians are among the world's worst polluters per capita, because of their reliance on cars. And many fear their cars are accelerating climate change.

To read more go to:

http://www.voanews.com

As in the days of Noah...