FarmI wrote:


I know I've done a lot of travel through various bits of rural NSW
and Vic over recent years and whatever is happening and why is not a
pretty picture. I think our rural areas are pretty well stuffed.


My wife was talking to an old timer (80ish) in the district who was pointing
out that in her memory of the 1930s and in her parents' memory of the 1900s
there were worse droughts and dust storms than in recent years. This
informant went on to say that there was no point in complaining, that you
had to put up with whatever you got, and that the droughts of old showed
there was no climate change. This is by no means an isolated case of this
type.

The old timer is right that there have been bad droughts and duststorms in
the past and that these had nothing to do with climate change. The problem
arrises when you extend this to saying that therefore the droughts and
duststorms now cannot be due to climate change, or conversely since we had
droughts before that were not caused by climate change and we have droughts
now, therefore climate change doesn't exist.

I don't think any scientist is saying that the droughts we have had recently
are simply and solely due to climate change. What they are saying is that
existing climate factors that can bring drought like ENSO are likely to get
more powerful or more frequent. So the first part of the reason for denial
is the confusion between shorter term events like weather, middle term
events like ENSO and the long term.

There is a second part which I believe it is another common origin of
climate change denial in country districts. The way that it works is that
when you are on the land you are taught to be a survivor, to find methods of
coping, to fix the problem if you can and to endure it if you cannot do
anything about it. This is admirable and makes much sense in the
environment. The problem comes when attitudes that go with the philosophy
are extended beyond their useful scope. In learning to be Stoic and to
endure whatever nature throws at you, you are taught not to whinge. To
whinge is a sign of weakness, a sign of a pointless attitude that you wish
the world to be as you desire it and that you are too stupid to accept it as
it really is.

If you blame drought on an external agency like climate change you are
whingeing, blaming somebody or something else instead of taking
responsibility and getting on with the job. If you are a self sufficient
farmer whose pride keeps you going in tough times then emotionally you
cannot blame climate change because that is admitting you cannot cope.
Therefore it doesn't exist. The sad thing is that if they did accept that
something bigger than them was going on and put their coping skills to use
in new ways they would be better off. We may not have time to wait until
younger sons and granddaughters take over with newer attitudes.

These are some observations of part of rural NSW that you might find
interesting. I am not trying to suggest that any of this necessarily
represents you or your situation.

David