After viewing an inconvinient truth (the documentary on climate change narrated by Al Gore) I have been able to understand the severity of the situation Mr Gore is putting foward. The way Gore has presented the current situation of Global Warming Is very convincing,what caught my attention the most was when he put forth the graph providing evidence of the global temperature going back thousands of years. Around the start of the industrial revelation it has become clear to me that the graph skyrockets, but in recent years it skyrockets again going of the screen around 2050!

My personal thought on the subject of global warming is quite simple,global warming is a very serious problem that we have been rapidely approaching in recent years, as the world's population is growing massively by the day many countries are having to rely on other nation's for key product's essential for our existence. Our main energy source here in Australia "coal" highly pollutes the atmosphere as it emitt's large quantities of carbon! Coal is also a finite energy source so once it is gone it is gone! These are just some of the many reasons why we need to change to a eco-friendly sustainable energy source for the future.

I believe that global warming will definately matter to us as global warming literally lives up to it's name.So when the planet warms the ice in the poles will melt causing the sea level to rise which could potentially submerge low lying cities which will in turn create a state of chaos causing a mass influx of panic and this will also put the strain on other countries when thousands of people seek asylum! Global warming will and has already destroyed flora and fauna/wildlife etc,so as long as we pollute,log and waste we will be digging our planet's grave for generation's to come.

The Main obstacle for the world to achieve a sustainable lifestyle is to be less-reliant on fossil fuel's such as coal. When a power station is constructed it will be in use for at least another twenty five years to come, and the problem is we are still constructing power stations sot to be eco-friendly in a decades time we would have to leave behind our newly built carbon emitting station's for a greener energy source such as solar.This would be very tough for a country financially that is still investing time and effort into mining coal! I believe that to completely run a country on a energy source such as solar it would take years of work to set up a whole nations worth of green power this would also put the strain upon ones shoulders as the transition period to solar would cost hundred's of millions to complete. So say that now that Australia is running completely off solar energy what will happen to the many coal mining town's such as Mt Isa which could literally lose their main industry overnight which would cause thousands of people to lose their job's so it will not be as simple as 1,2,3 for Australia to rely on a green,eco-friendly energy source as so many pros and con's will have to be taken into consideration.

In the world there are many different views/opinions as one top scientist may be trying to warn the government of a problem that could potentially change our planet's future for ever,while another may believe it is a 'lost cause' and that people are worrying about something they do not know will even happen. Global warming is a very contraversal subject that will always have two sides of the story but in recent years things have begun to change for the worst as the ice is melting,we are encountering the loss of plants and animal's which will in turn affect the food chain etc,if the sea level continue's to rise we may see in the future that we may have to drastically reshape our maps if sufficient action is not taken!

If one person tell's three colleuges to recylce water or buy solar panels ,then they tell three people and so on change can happen this is pointing out that a small scale individual solution can grow to a wide spread community answer. Industrially i believe they should change in a way of such that would not leave people stranded without jobs, so theoratically in my opinion the mining companies should be changing to a green energy source and training their existing staff to create and manage their new power source, this would also save million's of job's worldwide.

Given Australia's current situation in sustainability we need to change for the better quite rapidly! As coal is not a sustainable energy source and emmits a lot of Co2 into the atmosphere we need to change. I believe solar power is the way to go. There is so much unoccupied space in the desert where there is nothing ,no inhabitants and a very sunny environment perfect for solar panels. And the more we use solar energy the more advanced in solar panel development we shall become. If australia changes to a self sufficient country that does not need help from the outside world hopefully we will become a role model for other nation's to follow.



Mike Reynolds (of the documentary "Garbage Warrior") who builds houses called ''Earthships'' which comprises of a completely self sufficient home with everything you need to live built in ,so to name a few: water catchment/storage,a greenhouse to grow vegetables/fruit in,Area for poultry/chickens ect. These houses have recycling system's for grey water,waste and just about everything else you could think of after all these houses are built from tyres,bottles,cans etc which is a huge achievement in itself.

The idea that mr Reynolds has shown to the world through his documentary garbage warrior discusse's that is very possible to live a totally self sufficient lifestyle. It would be great to see the government employ green energy such as solar or wind to power all of Australia's electrical need's instead of coal which is finite! It would also pay for itself in the future as the longer you use renewable energy the cheaper it becomes as you would not pay bill's if you had your own system employed ,or it would also be cheap if you were paying for solar/wind energy of the grid.

All in all the point being discussed in my blog is that to become a green-self contained community we must use a renewable source of energy to achieve this goal successfully.

Is life on earth sustainable?

(1) I believe that previous human behaviours have affected our chances of survival by leaving a large problem for future generations!

(2) The main issues surrounding us now would be the excessive amount of Co2 entering the earth's atmosphere which is creating holes in the ozone layers which is contributing largely to the rising sea levels,melting ice caps and the warming of the earth!

(3) A sustainable future is a future where we are less reliant on finite supplies such as coal! If there were major solar rebates and free water catchment systems (roof gutters and a watertank etc) I believe this would appeal to a more varied array of the public (even though this would cost the government a great deal of money it would be quite a sensible move for longterm sustainability).Alternatively there could be solar farms set up in isolated locations such as desert's where this is a low population rate,as a desert is a very warm/sunny environment so it would be a very efficient place to harvest solar electricity.

(4) If an individual is living a greener lifestyle and doing so with out many problems they may be setting an example for other's to follow. One person's contributation may not be much, but when more and more of the wider community become involved then thing's will start to change.