Education is the starting point for the Greening of Greater Shepparton.
That sounds somewhat trite, but before anyone embarks on any sort of journey or project, they want to know the reasons for what they are doing and the likely rewards, both personally and for the wider community.
And so the ‘Greening of Greater Shepparton’ is in that category — what should I do and why should I do this?
Well, let’s tackle the second question first — why should I do this?
The Greater Shepparton climate is warming, with temperatures well in excess of 40ºC not uncommon, with 45ºC and more clearly on the horizon, and ultimately successive days of 50ºC.
And even though they are what are called dry bulb temperatures, working outside on 50ºC days is well nigh on impossible.
With wet bulb temperatures — that’s when the humidity is also measured — things become doubly difficult because when the temperatures climb into the high 30s on a high humidity day. Even a fit young person with an unlimited supply of water, but without shelter, will survive, when outdoors, for less than an hour.
Here is where the greening comes in, and so we now consider the first question — what should I do?
In short, plant trees, shrubs and grass.
Mostly, however, it should be trees, as many as you can plant.
Trees, as they mature, are carbon dioxide soaks and while providing that remarkable service they are also protecting us from the ever-increasing heat through the cover and shade they bestow.
Temperatures in the shade of a tree are measurably lower, often several degrees, and that, combined with grass, can be literally a life saver.
Beyond the shade they provide, trees, when combined with shrubs, provide a wind break and, further, a refuge for birds and other tiny critters that also need somewhere to live.
Therein lies a ‘tool’ for farmers, as a properly laid out array of trees and shrubs will create shade, a windbreak for their animals and, if linked together across the property, will become nature’s corridors. So, those corridors become hotspots for biodiversity.
Shepparton’s urban areas are heat-traps in that they are largely paved with either bitumen or cement, two things that worsen the intensity of hot weather.
The idea that the Greening of Greater Shepparton begins with education is a dangerous one, as after decades of individualism being inculcated in people, they can become quite reactionary to the idea of being schooled to be as one with their communities.
The dust cover on the new book History of Climate Change, by the director of the Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources at the National Research Council of Italy, Antonello Provenzale, says we need to understand how the climate works and how human activity is affecting it.
“Not in order to save the planet,” it says, “which will do just fine on it’s own ... but to save ourselves.”
The Greening of Greater Shepparton is about that understanding of how the climate works and taking steps “to save ourselves”.