There will be a variety of Impacts that are unique to Australia, The Aboriginal people of Australia are made up of 64 plus nations, most of these have 10 dialects of language and have an even greater variety of lore’s. These lore’s have served and guided the Aboriginal people for over 60000 years. They have protected the mother earth and all its inhabitants so that there is a symbiotic or mutually beneficial relationship. These cultures rely on cultural resources to engage in all aspects of their traditional cultural processes, which include among many items hunting resources, food and cooking resources, mental health, and wellbeing through the practice of culture itself, healthy diets, food resources, ancient customs all of which will severely be strained by climate change impacts.

Aboriginal people’s connection to country has helped with the micro-observations of climate change effects.  Scientists from across the globe have had academic papers, conferences, and meetings with the regional indigenous peoples. The local unique impacts are those that effect all levels of Aboriginal traditional culture, starting with the changes in migration patterns of fish and birds. The endemic species climate self-adaptations means that some species of fish are being found in Tasmanian waters that have never been seen before because our waters are warming.  The Torres Strait peoples islands both physically and spiritually are slowly being absorbed into the sea, and in doing so, the sea is exposing and washing away ancestral burial grounds. They are among the first people to become climate refugees, new laws of governance on the international level have had to be created and observed as these lands sink or are washed away, an understand has been drawn up so that when these lands reappear that the Torres Strait islander forward generations are protected and that this treaty of kinship internationally recognised as being owned by the Torres Strait peoples, clans and family groups. As always, the Torres Strait people will also record these things in song lines.

This is just a small sample of the negative impacts that are and will impact the land called Australia.

Climate change mitigations have started, we have been working towards them for over 20 years. The reports from the worlds scientific body say that there are severe outcomes if we don’t change current practices. Climate change will get worse before it gets better. However, the people most qualified to help guide scientist, and in turn the world, are the indigenous peoples, who have survived multiple ice ages in isolation, who’s song lines and ancient histories and deeply connected cultures treat the earth as a sacred sentient being that is to be treated respectfully and with honour.

The turning point for climate change is when ‘white’ colonial society see’s the earth not as a resource, instead these so-called civilisations need to have a treaty with the people who are the guardians of the planet. When we cease to treat the earth as a resource, when we recognise humans as people and not consumers, when we see that corporations are not sentient entities - then we will begin to win the climate mitigation battle at a pace conducive to healing mother earth by slowing the effects of western human anthropocentric induced climate change.

The fact that entire pacific nations will disappear, that the artic ice cap will disappear which is a staggering issue as new sea shipping lanes are created, new international boundaries are created and the changes in endemic migrations, nurseries, and spawning grounds. One of the most high-profile examples of climate migration is the creation of the grizzly-polar bear hybrid, as the ice shrink and drives polar bears south and the warming waters means grizzlies head further north as salmon now spawn in rivers that were previously inaccessible, the result is the two bear species meeting and procreating. Things are changing, is it fast enough for mitigation to occur, I’m not sure, but at least now there are changes and humanity are agreed that a real pathway needs to be locked in.

We asked a wetland ecologist, a fire scientist, and a Tasmanian Aboriginal person to answer this question. Their answers may surprise you - because climate change is already affecting Tasmania.

Indigenous perspective

Tasmanian Aboriginal People have been seeing climate change effects for well over 15 years now, we have noticed these effects on our traditional cultural resources such as the marineer shells, Mutton Birds, and dog wood trees/saplings. 

Marineer Shells are used in traditional shell necklace making (mental health, connection to country). The shells come in a variety of colours and sizes. They are an iridescent metallic green or blue colour and are often representative of status or valued highly as a trade item, depending on the quality, quantity, and shell variety. 

Some of the climate change affects which has been seen on the shells are discoloration, spotted corrosion, thinning of the shell walls, and becoming more brittle because of this. Their numbers are reducing, the water they live in has become more acidic, the weeds they live in and on have reduced in number and coverage per hectare, in some cases being pushed out of the area by other weeds. 

Mutton birds are being affected by micro plastics in the water, and the blockages are interfering with their energy levels for their long-haul migrations and breeding cycles. Dog wood (used for making spears and clap sticks) saplings are growing at a faster rate and are being shown to not grow as straight nor with the same internal strength qualities that have been apparent for thousands of years.