INVEST IN DISASTER PREVENTION

It’s broadly accepted that climate change is the greatest threat facing mankind, although those responsible for addressing the challenge don’t appear to appreciate the urgency.  

While most of us perceive climate change to be a matter of higher temperatures, easily addressed by better home insulation and the use of air-conditioners, fire is by far the greatest climate related threat, not only to humans, but to all other life forms.

We had a taste of that in 2019–20, and with temperature rises locked in for generations to come, the bushfire threat simply must be addressed. 

Following the bushfire crisis, we had an Independent Bushfire Inquiry established by the NSW  Government and a Federal Royal Commission which, we had hoped, would have identified effective actions to respond to wildfire during periods of extreme fire danger.   (For the inquiry reports check  report of the NSW Inquiry and the Royal Commission report .)

The Bushfire Royal Commission  recommended the establishment of an authoritative disaster advisory body (R 3.2), seemingly needed to manage disasters generally, rather than a focus on bushfires alone.

That is effectively what the NSW government did when setting up the $770 million Resilience NSW under bushfire hero Shane Fitzsimmons, whose first test was the Lismore flood catastrophe. The emergency services’ response to that catastrophe was so appalling, that within weeks, Fitzsimmons was fired and Resilience NSW shut down. 

Now it seems that last year’s catastrophic floods may have taken a lot of the focus off bushfires and, three years on from the last fire catastrophe, we have grass fires raging out of control in the NSW Central West near Hill End and Sofala, with firefighters able to do little more than protect homes. For the first time in three years our firies have had to face a major bushfire fire threat and it seems little has changed.  

Claims that the SES (State Emergency Services) lacked enough volunteers and they were poorly trained, merely points to poor government planning. With the climate emergency well and truly upon us, governments at all levels need to get serious about dealing with these emergencies and reduce reliance on volunteers.

They also need to spend more on resources to prevent these catastrophes, rather than focussing on recovery.

-        John Edwards

 Adapted from the "Voices for the Earth" column in The Clarence Valley Independent  15th March 2023.

 

 

 

 

COOLING STRATEGIES IN GRAFTON

Increasingly hot summers have seen some councils developing cooling strategies for their urban areas. 

Because of the urban heat island effect, cities become much hotter than surrounding rural areas because of factors such as pollution, building density and extensive hard dark surfaces (buildings and asphalt roads) which absorb heat.  Traffic, industry and electricity usage also contribute to increased urban temperatures which may be from two to ten degrees higher than in surrounding rural areas.

While the urban heat island effect is a major problem in cities, it also affects smaller urban areas.

One of the effective cooling strategies adopted by many councils is increasing street canopy cover with good shade trees. 

Grafton is particularly fortunate with the street trees in its older sections – a result of the foresight of early community leaders.  

 The variable situation in Prince Street,  Grafton's main street.

Well-established trees in some parts of the street provide both good shade and a pleasant outlook. The two photos below show the tree cover on the western side of both the Prince Street - Victoria Street and the  Prince Street-Fitzroy Street intersections.

Chinese elm and very large White Fig.

 

Tulipwood Trees on the Prince St- Fitzroy St Corner

In its newer street plantings in Grafton’s main street  Clarence Valley Council has shown an indifference to any commitment to green-scaping and provision of shade trees to reduce the heat island effect. The palms planted at the pedestrian crossings between Fitzroy and Pound Streets provide negligible shade. 

 

And shady lillypillies were replaced with low shrubs on both sides of the informal crossing near Ray White between Fitzroy and Victoria Streets.

 

 

This is a busy part of town which particularly needs shade because of pedestrian usage and heating resulting from traffic flow.

 

The situation in newer parts of Grafton

In most of the newer areas streets are narrower and so are verges (“nature strips”) which provide no space for reasonably-sized shade trees.  And this opportunity is further restricted by the fact that services such as power and water are generally located underground along these narrow verges.  In addition, block sizes in new developments are generally smaller and the current tendency to build large dwellings on them leaves little garden space for planting shade trees within the block.

Obviously this ‘modern’ problem is not restricted to Grafton or to new developments in the Clarence Valley.

As the climate continues to warm, Councils like Clarence Valley Council will be expected to provide a better solution for the heat island effect than palms and low shrubs as well as implementing changes to developments to ensure that verges or nature strips are wide enough to allow planting of reasonably sized shade trees in residential areas. 

 

 

GREEN ROOFS

As our summers become increasingly hot for longer periods people will be looking to a range of strategies in order to stay cool in their homes and workplaces.  One such strategy, already being widely used in other parts of the world including Germany, Austria and Singapore, is green or “living” roofs, roofs on which grasses, flowers or small shrubs are growing. 

 

Such roofs have a long history.  In Viking days turf-covered roofs in Scandinavia provided effective insulation from the cold. But these roofs are also effective in insulating buildings from heat.

Modern living roofscapes depend on a series of carefully designed layers which protect the roof and ensure that rainwater is filtered and drained and that the plants growing there can thrive.

The conventional roof serves a sole purpose – protecting the building and its inhabitants from the elements. In doing that it takes a beating from sun, wind, rain – and, in colder climates, snow. On a hot day temperatures on conventional roofs, particularly dark-coloured roofs, are much higher than the surrounding air.  This makes it more difficult to cool the air in the building below.  In addition the hot roof contributes to the urban heat island effect.

Up-front costs for green roofs are higher than for conventional roofs and some maintenance is required. 

However, there are substantial benefits from these roofs.  As the soil and vegetation act as living insulation, the building’s internal temperatures are moderated – so it is cooler in summer and warmer in winter. Less energy is needed for cooling or heating which means both greenhouse gas emissions and energy costs are lower.  Other benefits include reduction of rainwater runoff, filtering of air pollution by the plants, support for biodiversity within an urban landscape and reducing the urban heat island effect.

A different roof strategy involves the development of cool roofs – roofs which use of reflection to send solar energy back into space. A variety of forms has been developed including light-coloured metal, shingles, tiles, coatings and membranes.  In an increasingly warming world sending solar energy back into space rather than absorbing it is essential.

            - Leonie Blain 

This article was originally published in the VOICES FOR THE EARTH column in The Daily Examiner on January 21, 2019. 

TURNING DOWN THE HEAT IN WESTERN SYDNEY

 On December 5 2018 the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC) launched its plan for dealing with increasing summer temperatures. Members of  WSROC include the following local government areas - Parramatta, Fairfield, Blacktown, Penrith, Hawkesbury, Blue Mountains and Lithgow.

The first part of WSROC's media release is printed below.

With another scorching summer on the way, the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC) has released its plan for cooler, more resilient communities.

Developed in partnership with 55 stakeholder organisations, the Turn Down the Heat Strategy and Action Plan is the first comprehensive, multi-sector approach to tackling heat in Western Sydney.

WSROC President Cr Barry Calvert said “Heat is arguably the greatest natural threat to the Western Sydney community- yet we do not take heat as seriously as we do bushfires, floods or storms.

“During a heatwave hospitalisations surge, power bills skyrocket, infrastructure breaks down, and traffic worsens. These impacts are magnified in Western Sydney, where temperatures can be 10 degrees hotter than the city’s East.

“These impacts are especially felt by our vulnerable communities who may not be able to afford air-conditioning, have limited transport access to seek relief, or have existing medical conditions which are aggravated by heat,” he said.

“The impacts of heat are expected to worsen over the next decade as Western Sydney develops and becomes more densely populated. Without action, 50-degree days could become a regular occurrence in Western Sydney,” said Cr Calvert.

“The good news is there are many things we can do to mitigate and build resilience to heat. Turn Down the Heat identifies five key areas which are crucial for tackling heat. These include: 

• Take action, together
• Cool with greenspace and water
• Design and plan to cool the built environment
• Innovative and responsive infrastructure
• Build a community that is healthy and prepared

While there is already some great work being done to address heat, action remains fragmented.

“A key objective of this Strategy is to bring people together for a coordinated approach to mitigating, planning and responding to heat events,” said Cr Calvert.

“The Strategy also seeks to facilitate cooler communities by integrating three key pillars of cool urban design: material choice, greenspace and water. When used together, these mitigations can lower temperatures, cut power bills and reduce pressure on our energy grid,” he said.

“Even so, we will still have hot weather. Infrastructure must be designed to cope with fluctuations in temperature and demand so that water, energy and public transport are available when people need them most,” said Cr Calvert.

“Community education and preparedness is also critical. We must ensure people have the knowledge and resources to manage heat at the local level. This may include making small home modifications, knowing how to look after themselves and others during hot weather,” he said.

CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION AND THE NSW GOVERNMENT

The recent bushfires in the Blue Mountains and other parts of NSW have highlighted a serious problem which is likely to become worse as climate change gathers momentum.

Governments and the general community will need to develop strategies to adapt to the diverse challenges thrown at them by climate change - challenges such as more frequent and more severe bushfires.  Obviously this should be seen by all levels of government as a high priority.

It is therefore very disappointing that the NSW Government, which has a responsibility to prepare NSW for a future where climate change is a major issue, has made severe cuts to areas of the public service which advise government on climate adaptation. (For details of the cuts, see a report in The Sydney Morning Herald )

In a TV interview on the same day as the  newspaper report the NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell stated that he was concerned about climate change and that his slashing of the public service positions did not mean that there would be no research into adaptation as the government was providing funding for universities to undertake reseach into adaptation.

Whether the decision to do away with the scientific positions was ideological or whether the Government believed universities  would provide adaptation advice more efficiently or more cheaply is uncertain.

The Clarence Valley Conservation Coalition believes that the most effective way of ensuring that timely information on climate adaptation is delivered across the range of government departments which need this information for future planning is by way of scientists employed by the state rather than through a hodge-podge of state-funded research programs in universities.