CLIMATE FRONTLINES Episode 2

SIBERIA, THE PACIFIC AND HIDDEN WATER IN AUSTRALIA

20TH JULY 2020

Production: Andy Britt and Vivien Langford

Interviews : James Whitmore, Reema Rattan and Kurt Johnson

Guests:

Angelina Davidova - Environmental Journalist in St Petersburg

Bradley Moggridge - Indigenous Water Scientist in Canberra

Dr Wesley Morgan - Pacific Hub at Griffith University

Music:

Thanks to Paul Sutyrin on balaleika and Gladky for the Russian band

Isa Lei was sung by the Suva Methodist Choir and thanks to Hilda and Bernie O'Brien who sang this often in my childhood.

Thanks to Scolex for sound effects of underground water  and cyclones

Episode 1 on BANGLADESH is here: https://www.3cr.org.au/beyondzero/episode-202007131700/bangladesh

Episode 2 takes us to the Climate Frontline in SIBERIA.  Angelina Davidova tells James Whitmore about the base of oil tanks cracking as the permafrost beneath melts and  there is a massive oil spill into the rivers. Plus wild fires since May and temperatures of 38 degrees C. She has been covering Climate Change for 10 years and notes that Russians used to joke about how good it would be for Russia. Now as the EU Green Deal will  create a border tax on imported gas, oil and coal, they are worried. Like Austrlalia they have low targets to reduce emissions and worry about  economic threats as the world moves away from fossil fuels. We both have melting poles behind us and fossil fuels blurring our vision.

The next climate frontline is in Australia which is 70% arid .Changing rain patterns and frequent droughts have made us anxious about water. Reema Rattan wants to know why we are so ignorant of indigenous water management. The mega fires have humbled us to listen to indigenous fire managers but what about protecting the vast hidden water.?Bradley Moggridge is an expert in Hydro-Geology. He says we need to celebrate ancient knowledge not as myth but as science. "Don't mess with the springs" seems like a clear message yet The Great Artesian basin could go the way of the Great Barrier Reef if we frack it and pump out its waters for mines.

THE PACIFIC contains hundreds of languages, cultures and bioregions. Kurt Johnson talks to Dr Wesley Morgan about the now frequent Category 5 cyclones that are wrecking the tropical idyll. Adaptation is expensive as they have to build much tougher roads and more resilient hospitals and schools now. He says that Pacific Islanders are a lot more climate literate than Australians and maybe could send us some reverse aid to get us up to speed. As Fijian PM Frank Bainimarama says "We're all in the same canow, it's leaking water and you can't fix a lealy boat with Kyoto credits"

It may be unpalatable for the mainstream media to bring us stories that show Australia in a negative light. This is the beauty of the alternative media and I am very grateful to the two 3CR jourtnalists who did guest interviews from the frontlines and to Kurt who did an extra one because he knows this frontline well.

As I learned recently

" When our worldview is no longer compatible with our knowledge of the world, isnt it wiser to alter our worldview rather than alter the facts?"