The winter of 2018 was awesome. But the fact is that climate change poses an existential threat to the winters we love. A summer of crazy fires across the alps and Tasmania reminds us of what the future holds – higher temperatures, longer and more extreme fire seasons and less rain.

Yet again, climate scientists have warned that we are running out of time to cut greenhouse emissions. Yet the federal government has dropped the ball on climate action (and our carbon emissions continue to soar), so we need everyone to put their shoulder to the wheel and remind them that the community wants to see meaningful action on climate change. Please send a message to the PM, Scott Morrison, that our winter landscapes are at threat, and that we expect his government to act.

The outdoor community and the outdoor industry have enormous political power. But only if we choose to flex our muscles.

Here’s two really simple ways you can get climate change on the radar of the PM:

1/ Please take a photo of yourself in your favourite place and remind the PM that these are #PlacesWorthProtecting and post on any social media platform. Tag in the PM.

Some examples:

The community wants you to #ActOnClimate @ScottMorrisonMP. Action now will help protect the places we love. [insert your favourite place] is worth protecting. #PlacesWorthProtecting

Or

The community wants you to #ActOnClimate, @ScottMorrisonMP. Action now will help protect the places we love, and the tourism that depends on them: $55 billion to the national economy each year. #PlacesWorthProtecting

Instagram post here.

Twitter post here.

2/ sign the open letter to the PM here.

Skiers and climbers, riders and hikers, paddlers and trail runners. Together we’re a force to be reckoned with.

Thanks!

Protecting our playground means transforming our energy system

Climate change poses an existential threat to the wild ecosystems that skiers and snow boarders, hikers, climbers, paddlers, trail runners, and mountain bike riders rely on for adventure. It also poses an equally grave threat to the businesses that rely on wild nature for their existence.

Tourist operators on the Great Barrier Reef are shifting their stance on climate change, with the peak industry body now opposing Adani’s “mega coal mine”, and acknowledging that fossil fuel use needs to be phased out.

In an unprecedented declaration, the Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators (AMPTO) and Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) have called on “all our political leaders … to fight for the future of our reef”.

By definition, action to protect the Reef must include action to greatly limit greenhouse gas emissions. This is true of other natural landscapes.

Millions of Australians enjoy outdoor recreation – including walking, running, skiing, riding, trail running, canoeing and climbing. Climate science makes it abundantly clear that all the ecosystems that support these activities will be negatively impacted by climate change.

And there is an economic dimension as well:

Tourism represents 3.2% of Australia’s GDP and contributes A$55 billion to the national economy each year.  The sector employs 598,200 people. Domestic tourism is a significant part of the tourism industry, representing 73% of the total direct tourism GDP. The Australian ski industry alone generates more than $1.8 billion a year and employs more than 18,000 people. Yet under current greenhouse scenarios, climate change could cut Australia’s ski season by more than two months.

In the USA, the outdoor industry and community is flexing its political muscle and campaigning to defend public lands that could lose their protection because of the Trump administration plan to hand them over to mining and fossil fuel companies. It is also calling on the USA to do its fair share of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.

The Australian outdoor community can do the same.

twitter post

Further information

Here are some of the details on how climate change is expected to impact on winter in Australia (and some of the great things that the snow industry is doing to reduce global warming).

Check here for details on impacts of climate change on natural ecosystems

Check here for the Protect Our Winters info on climate science.

Check this climate activists roadmap of things you can do to make a difference on climate change.

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