;
Since the beginning of 2011 most of the Australian state of Queensland, large parts of northern Victoria and the outskirts of the western city of Perth have suffered from severe natural events – flood, cyclone and fire – with disastrous consequences for those involved. During the writing of this essay, severe earthquakes have destroyed much of my childhood home of Christchurch and the seaboard of Japan. At times phrases such as 1 in 100 or even 1 in 200 year events have been used to describe the magnitude of the impacts.
Naturally first efforts are to protect and restore but now the focus has turned to rebuilding. The inital instinct is to try and put back what was there. But is this really smart? Might it be that the attempt to rebuild what was, locks the community into a range of sub optimal outcomes that undermines resilience and future adaptability? What happens if these events (not including the earthquakes), as dreadful as they have been, are symptomatic of a climate changed future?
The full essay is available for download under books and articles.