Histories for an Uncertain Future: Environmental History and Climate Change

Abstract

In the wake of a decade of crippling droughts, cyclones, floods and fires, and warnings that as a result of anthropogenic climate change such events will be more frequent and intense in the future, historical research into Australian weather and climate is growing. The focus of these studies ranges from the quotidian to the extreme and from the lay to the scientific, offering insights into the experience, measurement, interpretation and prediction of weather and climates since British colonisation. In doing so, they engage with familiar themes of Australian environmental history, such as adaptation, local knowledge, expertise, Western science, sustainability and economic development, as well as demonstrating emerging interests in anxiety, risk and resilience. Here I consider this recent historical research on Australia's climate and its variability, as well as the implications of anthropogenic climate change for the ways in which we undertake writing history.