Fremantlebiz - Paul's Letter from Australia

Coping with natural disasters

Natural catastrophes are a regular part of human life on planet Earth. In the past two weeks or so there has been inestimable suffering from several large scale ones.

The USA has experienced more tornadoes which have caused billions of dollars worth of damage and destruction. I can empathise with the victims because our house was badly damaged by a tornado in May 2005.

In Myanmar (Burma) there was a monsoonal cyclone which has left many thousands bodies to bloat in the Irrawaddi Delta. The under-resourced medical and public health facilities have been overwhelmed. There will be a significant rise in mortality as a result. A purportedly incompetent, despotic military regime seems to have spent more time keeping their own uniforms starched and pressed than formulating an effective response strategy.

In China two days ago there was a very strong earthquake which has caused the deaths of many thousands more people. On day one the western media was mentioning a mortality figure of ten thousand. It was plucked from the air. There was no way anyone could have known. Given the concentration of people in that area, the style of architecture and the intensity of seismic event there may be many more deaths. But at least the Chinese government has quickly mobilised its resources, seemingly as effectively as any nation could be expected - possibly more effectively that some western nations.

Meanwhile the widespread problems for Africa just go on and on. Pictures of starving children have practically become trade marks for various aid agencies over several decades.

These catastrophes have occurred at a time when there have been warnings that the global population is entering an age of serious food supply adjustments. Apparently there is a significant shortage of rice looming for most peoples. Even in Australia which has long been a significant exporter of rice, this year's crop will be one of the smallest ever. There is still some Australian rice on the shelves of our local supermarkets, but curiously most of what is on offer comes from developing nations - Pakistan and Thailand to name two.

The picture below is of seemingly identical packs of long grain rice in our pantry, but check the fine print.

The next photo is from two different varieties. The top one is from Thailand, the bottom one from Australia. The way to tell the difference is the tiny red 'Australia' logo on the bottom one. The company certainly doesn't make the origin of the imported variety obvious. We bought it in the mistaken belief it was of Australian origin.

The cost of oil continues to soar, and for Australia, today marks the highest price ever for diesel fuel. Over A$1.70 a litre. This is a critical matter, because our nation's agricultural and transport infrastructure is so dependent on oil. The rise is probably going to cause much greater inflation and collateral damage to the agricultural sector than already experienced.

Apparently there has been a rush in developed nations to convert from traditional food crops into the production of ethanol as a fuel substitute. How unethical can some people and corporations be? This has contributed to further food shortages, not only for people, but for their agricultural animals. Maybe imported rice won't be on our shelves for much longer either? In any case, I feel sure the victims of the recent catastrophes will need it more than we do.

Then there is the uncertainty of how to cope with climate change. I feel sure a lot of people won't be able to cope.

Apparently the human population is over six and a half billion people. It's not surprising there are problems. Lone voices have been warning for decades that the crunch was coming.

© MMVIII Paul R. Weaver.

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Check out each month's subject index on the Calendar Page for my "common-man" monologues about survival in 21st century Australia – plus a little history occasionally. An original essay is added most days as part of an undertaking to write at least couple of million words. Zzzzzzzz!