How serious is the greenhouse effect?
By Dr Bob Hunter At a meeting in Berlin earlier this year to review progress on the response of the developed nations to the greenhouse problem, Australia came in for some heavy criticism. That criticism has been revived recently (Sydney Morning Herald, August 7) with the news that the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) is hatching a report which defends the continued extensive use of coal for electricity generation. Australia is the world’s largest exporter of coal and probably consumes more coal per head for electricity generation than any other country. Coal burning is one of the major contributors to greenhouse gas formation, so we Australians are making a disproportionate contribution to the effect and the possible environmental and climatic consequences. This year’s Templeton Lecture, on September 14, will be given by Dr Barrie Pittock of the CSIRO on the question “How `dangerous’ is climate change?”. On the following morning (September 15), we plan
