Clarence Valley, climate change and saltwater inundation

[Graphic displayed in The Daily Examiner,Grafton,16 February 2007]

This is one scenario for predicted saltwater inundation of the lower Clarence River estuary.
The white areas denote remaining dry land, the light grey areas denote inundated land and the darker grey areas denotes existing ocean and estuary waterways.
The towns of Maclean, Yamba, Iluka, numerous small villages and agricultural lands are significantly affected.
For eleven long years the Howard Government has either ignored or discounted the potential for climate change to create environmental refugees along the east coast of Australia.
Sometime in the next 100 years as many as 20,000 people in the Lower Clarence may have to begin a staged withdrawal inland due to saltwater intrusion, inundation, coastal erosion and storm surge damage.
Messrs. Howard and Turnbull happily support robbing the Clarence River of vital freshwater flows, but continue to do little to address potential inundation issues.
One has to ask - can the Clarence Valley and Australia afford to indulge the Howard Government with another term in office?
See "Nova Science in the News" link for brief overview:
http://www.science.org.au

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