Australia scrubbed from UN climate change report after government intervention

[muriel_volestrangler]

Every reference to Australia was scrubbed from the final version of a major UN report on climate change after the Australian government intervened, objecting that the information could harm tourism.

Guardian Australia can reveal the report “World Heritage and Tourism in a Changing Climate”, which Unesco jointly published with the United Nations environment program and the Union of Concerned Scientists on Friday, initially had a key chapter on the Great Barrier Reef, as well as small sections on Kakadu and the Tasmanian forests.

But when the Australian Department of Environment saw a draft of the report, it objected, and every mention of Australia was removed by Unesco. Will Steffen, one of the scientific reviewers of the axed section on the reef, said Australia’s move was reminiscent of “the old Soviet Union”.

No sections about any other country were removed from the report. The removals left Australia as the only inhabited continent on the planet with no mentions.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/27/australia-scrubbed-from-un-climate-change-report-after-government-intervention

"Come to our beautiful Great Barrier Reef! What's that, it's bleached and dying? Why, of course not, it's a World Heritage Site, and there's nothing in the reports about that, is there? It must be your eyes. Hand over your money anyway."

[Vogon_Glory]

1. And what about their water supply?

And what about their water supply? Australia is overwhelmingly a desert, and often a very hot one. Higher air and ground temperatures, more evaporation, less water; you'd think that was something anyone possessing at least the intelligence of a dull-witted hamster would know about that.