Sunburnt Country: The History and Future of Climate Change in Australia

by Joëlle Gergis

What does climate change in Australia really look like? "What was Australia’s climate like before official weather records began? How do scientists use tree-rings, ice cores and tropical corals to retrace the past? What do Indigenous seasonal calendars reveal? And what do settler diary entries about rainfall, droughts, bushfires and snowfalls tell us about natural climate cycles? Sunburnt Country pieces together Australia’s climate history for the first time. It uncovers a continent long vulnerable to climate extremes and variability. It gives an unparalleled perspective on how human activities have altered patterns that have been with us for millions of years, and what climate change looks like in our own backyard. Sunburnt Country highlights the impact of a warming planet on Australian lifestyles and ecosystems and the power we all have to shape future life on Earth."

Genres: Environment, Nonfiction, Science, History, Australia, Nature, Climate Change

566 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 2, 2018

About the author

Dr Joëlle Gergis is an award-winning climate scientist and writer. She served as a lead author for the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report and is the author of Sunburnt Country: The History and Future of Climate Change in Australia. Joëlle has also contributed chapters to The Climate Book by Greta Thunberg, and Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility, edited by Rebecca Solnit and Thelma Young Lutunatabua.

Reviews

[Steph]

While the content of this book is (rightfully) alarming, I found the approach comforting in two ways.

Firstly, the author is a climate scientist who writes in an accessible way without dumbing-down the content. She used real data, statistics, names and places to talk about climate change and illustrate the likely impacts in a transparent way that neither exaggerates nor minimises. It’s actually rare in most public discussions of climate change.

Secondly, I loved that this book focuses explicitly on Australia. It made me realise how often we hear about ice melting in Antarctica and Greenland, or smaller island nations vanishing in the Pacific, or water rising in Venice, but not what climate change will look like for Melbourne or Sydney or Alice Springs. The book is just so Aussie (with stories from Dreamtime, the First Fleet through to the Black Saturday fires and Queensland floods), but - unlike the cliches - it’s smart and caring Aussie. That’s the approach we should all be cheering for to prevent the worst horrors of climate change.

[Michael Clarke]

This left me devastated but hopeful

[Kerry]

This is a must read. Like all science-based texts, this spends a large amount of time outlining research methods and tracing the history of climate observation in Australia. I found this interesting from an historical point of view, but is not really the nitty-gritty of the book. Parts 3 and 4 are where the book got really interesting for me, as this laid out the latest findings and evidence relating to climate change, with a particularly Australian focus. The last section looks at the political shambles that passes for climate change policy in this country and scenarios for our future. No doubt that it will be attacked by Andrew Bolt, The Australian and all the other usual suspects who make their living creating a fallacious debate around climate science, but it is a worthwhile book, even if you only read Parts 3 and 4.

[John Shaw]

Quite good, yes

This book elucidates the scientific journey through which we have come to understand the primary drivers of Australia's climate, and the projected consequences of anthropogenic climate change.

I found Gergis' insights into the methodology of historic climate modelling and accounts of extreme weather and climatic conditions from early European settlers particularly interesting.

One only hopes the projected changes in our climate and weather are as interesting as they are unnerving.

[Nadia Zeemeeuw]

Well written, accessible, thought-provoking must read, not only for Australians.

[Ashley Bartlett]

A must read for anyone who has an interest in Climate Change in Australia.

Joëlle lays out how she and a team of people, from all over the world, scoured different resources for the history of the climate in Australia. Up until now it has not been well documented in a single source.

The book covers how they used several sources, some surprising, to get a firm picture of what things used to look like and how it looks today.

Is reassuring in how thorough they were in reproducing this data. Depressing only in how urgent we need to change.

[Dean]

Great book covering climate change in Australia. Begins by synthesising and summarising historical records from colonists and scientific methods for establishing past climate patterns such as ice core analysis, coral analysis, etc. Many chapters covering the different impacts climate change will have on Australian climate, such as increased heat, decreased rainfall, rising sea levels, and more. Ends with a discussion of the political difficulties that have hamstrung Australia's respond to climate change, with a hopeful note at the very end. A thoroughly researched and informative read, definitely eye opening and confronting

[Michael Hall]

A must read for anyone who cares about the state of our planet.

Well researched, beautifully written and easily followed book on what is the most pressing issue of our times. A must read for anyone who cares about the state of our planet and the legacy we chose to leave for future generations. Michael Hall- Envronmental Photographer. www.michaelhall.net

[Jordan]

Gergis strikes a balance between historical and scientific explorations of Australia’s position in our changing climate, without shying away from the gritty substance of either. It’s refreshing to read an account of the impacts of climate change and the climatological processes which affect Australia, as opposed to those impacting only the US and Europe.

[Paul Bynes]

This is an important book to read if you live in Australia. It provides great background on the complex and highly variable Australian climate. The last part of the book looks at what the future might look like - and some of the important choices we gave to make.

[Mo]

Easy to understand and translate to an individual context which is commendable given the epic yet concise content. I'm going to purchase this book because it has so many references and threads that I wish to follow up

[Meghann Kenkel]

This book is well done. I wish it didn’t get into different dating techniques as I felt like I read that in many books on this topic but there were also things I learned about past climate in Australia.

[Hugh]

easy to understand for the uninitiated in climate science. An interesting history lesson, discussing clearly and concisely how the countries climate has changed over the centuries and millennia.

[Mich DW]

Disturbing and important reading for any Australian who gives a shit about our collective future.

[Nick]

Great book with some good detail for Australians

[Naomi]

Essential reading for every Australian

[Grace Quinn-Foster]

Bit slow at the start. Lot of research in this book, humbling, scary. The mine talked about as being catastrophic for the Great Barrier Reef if it was approved, has been open since 2021.