Recently though, our State Governments have discussed instigating a carbon trading scheme - the details are still to be decided - and that's an encouraging sign.

And living in Australia I am relatively well off.

The challenge that climate change presents to us, both in Australia and around the world, won't be solved by ramping up the nuclear industry.

Climate change is so big that people who study it.. and many do.. need to speak to it. They must present scientific papers, they must appear in public, they must speak to the media and we must hear their voices. In order to get policy right, policymakers.. governments.. need to make decisions based on sound science.

Climate change is also clearly a matter of huge interest and concern for the scientific community.

It is now well understood that humans ultimately depend on the health of the planet for their wellbeing.

This is the rollcall of evolution happening in the space of a few generations, the greatest loss of living things that make up our biodiversity since the disappearance of the dinosaurs.