Reading Notes for Collapse (Prologue and Ch. 1)

Sean Porter October 14, 2006

Diamond, J. (2005). “Mining” Australia. In Wendy Wolf, Stefan McGrath, and Jon Turney (Eds.), Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. (pp. 378-416). New York, NY: The Penguin Group.

Summary

Diamond begins by highlighting Australia's particular significance as a First World country, and as one of the most susceptible victims of environmental damage, mostly due to location, geologic factors, and generally nutrient deficient environment. He continues, pointing out that a large part of Australia's problems were side effects of the way in which it was colonized (for the most part, as a British penal colony). There were many instances where the colonists introduced species from Europe to make the environment around them more like that of Britain, with disastrous results. They often would then introduce more species to combat the problems caused by the first, usually having even more damaging side effects. This was not always the case, as the introduction of the myxomatosis disease to curb rabbit populations was initially successful, but ultimately failed after the rabbits became resistant to the disease. The largest problem that seems to be operating in Australia is that of salinization, in part due to the large concentrations of salt that are already present in the soil, but exasperated by the ignorant and irresponsible actions of the Australians. There are four other major factors at work in Australia that Diamond touches on, though none of them come close to the scale of the salinization problem. These are problems with forestry, marine fisheries, freshwater fisheries, freshwater, and introduced species. He points out the strange trade imbalances that exist in Australia. They export wood as chips to the Japanese for making paper, but import paper from other countries. The logging of old growth forests is amazing in its own right, as we learn that Australia is second only to Antarctica in its lack of forest. Australia's fisheries have been over-fished repeatedly, despite the studies that have been done to find sustainable levels of harvest (they usually came out after the fisheries were depleted). The low biodiversity of Australia has made it especially susceptible to non-native species, as evidenced by the problems with rabbits and foxes. He then goes on to point out that there is hope for the continent, as the people's attitudes seem to be changing, and they re-evaluate their values to decide what part of those values they must give up to continue living where they are and survive.

Relevance

As Diamond points out, Australia is one of the few contemporary First World countries that is suffering severe environmental effects from their misguided previous (and some current) practices. It also happens to be one of the most ecologically fragile parts of the world, due to a variety of factors. This means that if they can solve the problems that they have caused in their neck of the woods, we may still have a chance to begin reversing the environmental damage that is widespread throughout the First World. We can also take note of their efforts to re-evaluate their cultural values and decide which of them make sense in the context of the current situation.

“New” Words

sal‧i‧ni‧za‧tion /ˌsælənəˈzeɪʃən/ [sal-uh-nuh-zey-shuhn]

–noun

the process by which a nonsaline soil becomes saline, as by the irrigation of land with brackish water.

[Origin: 1925–30; salinize + -ation]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.0.1)

salinization. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.0.1). Retrieved November 22, 2006, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/salinization

Questions

If Australia is truly a model of what may happen to the entire First world if we continue on our current path, what can we do to help them solve the problems they have, thereby contributing to our own solutions?
It sounds as though in Australia, as in many other places (the U.S.A. For example) the government seems to be virtually owned by corporations that have no regard for the long term effects of their actions, what can be done to combat this disturbing trend?
Why doesn't Australia make efforts to change some of the trade issues that contribute to their economic and ecological issues?