A few days ago I listened to a radio replay of the Kenneth Meyer lecture given recently at the Australian National Library by Dr Tim Flannery (webcast here). The topic was, of course, climate change. Flannery has been one of the most persuasive and articulate leaders of the international public discourse on climate change over the past several years. His book The Weather Makers, published in 2005, was one of the first to assemble the scientific evidence on climate change and present it to the general public. In retrospect it is a little shocking to realise first, how long it…

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Ian Lowe’s Quarterly Essay entitled Reaction Time: Climate Change and the Nuclear Option is a well-informed, well-reasoned and timely contribution to the current debate. He brings an unusual level of credibility to the debate. He is an engineer and physical scientist by training, with a doctorate in physics, and currently emeritus professor of science, technology and society at Griffith University–an orientation which fits him exceptionally well to handle the multi-disciplinary character of the issue. Interestingly, his early academic years in the UK in the 1970’s saw him as a supporter of nuclear power, and a participant in early policy reviews.…

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