Last week's Climate Leaders Summit is a welcome act of leadership from US President Joe Biden.
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One of many attempts to rein in emissions over the past few decades, the reality is that without significant global co-operation, climate change will continue to impact on our lives.
The laudable aim to keep a 1.5 degree Celsius rise in global average temperatures "within reach", must be tempered by the fact that a 1.1 degree rise has already occurred and current global policies are only sufficient to restrict rises to at best 2.6 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial conditions.
Clearly climate changes will continue, regardless of the outcomes of attempts to check them. The best that Biden and other leaders can do is ensure that the worst case scenarios don't eventuate.
Australia has witnessed some of the worst conditions current climate change has to offer. Record high temperature and low rainfall in 2019 precipitated the worst fire conditions ever experienced in this country. Indeed many climate records have been broken over the last decade, in line with the trending situation. New records will emerge in coming decades.
Regardless of global mitigation efforts, we will need to adapt to new environmental conditions. We humans are actually very good at adapting. The response to the pandemic has shown how well we can modify our lives to meet new challenges.
However, many plants and animals aren't so lucky. In an undisturbed landscape many would adapt by migrating to new areas of suitable habitat.
However, in the heavily modified Central Tablelands of NSW only remnants of the once broad forests now exist, mostly in isolated National Parks and State Conservation Areas.
Higher elevation 'islands', such as Mt Canobolas SCA, are now the most critical refuges available for vulnerable native species as the prevailing environmental conditions change.
A recent report on the environmental values of Mt Canobolas SCA by local ecologist Dr Col Bower highlights the precarious nature of this reserve, even in current climatic conditions.
Pressure to develop the mountain - most recently the mountain bike park proposal - is completely at odds with the conservation imperative of the reserve, now more valuable due to continuing climate change.
We have responsibilities to protect all native species under State and Commonwealth laws, as well as under international obligations.
Let's ensure that we honour those pledges by providing the highest possible protections for these critical climate change refuges.
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