tom m wilson

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported in 2001 that the expected rise in sea level by 2100 due to glacier melting alone was between 1 and 23 centimetres. Sounds ok to me? Nothing much to worry about there?

One fear is that the entire West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets might disappear into the oceans. Greenland hosts the second-largest icecap on Earth, holding 10 per cent of the global ice mass. If the Greenland ice sheet melts then the global sea level would rise 6.5 metres.

2001 is a long time ago in the world of climate science, and things have changed. New data is in and new predictions are now being made.

Four weeks ago the notion that the IPCC website is out of date was firmly confirmed. Four weeks ago New Scientist magazine reported that the Greenland ice cap, the world’s second largest ice cap, may be melting three times faster than indicated by previous measurements, according to newly released gravity data collected by satellites. Greenland’s ice is melting faster than ever. The process could reach a point of no return before the end of the century.

Some time this century down town Fremantle may truly be down: the West End, the markets and South Terrace forever submerged under five metres of water.

[Thanks go to map expert Dave Robertson for preparing this image for me.]

If you don’t believe that you’ll live to see a five metre sea level rise, this is what Freo will look like under three metres of water.

We actually got this image published on the front page of the Fremantle Herald, the local newspaper. 

Berries actually grow out of the trunk of this rainforest tree. There are around 1200 tree species in the wet tropical bioregion of north-east Australia. (These photos were all taken on Fitzroy Island, south-east off the coast of Cairns.)

The beach was an eroded coral jig-saw patch on this tropical island’s shore.

In the spotlight.

After Cairns and Fitzroy Island we went south. Up into the Tablelands to the east the water flowed cold and pure.

Then we were a thousand metres up in the Tablelands, amongst the clouds and the rain.

By Lake Barrine I thought I’d check the strength of the lianas by pulling on one. One thing lead to another…

This black and white and sepia collection comes mainly from Mossman Gorge, north of Cairns.

This is the Gorge in all its quiet, fresh-watered inwardness.

The area around Mossman is full of grand cane field-filled ampitheatres of cloud and mountain.

Engaging with nature doesn’t mean just looking at it. The waters of Mossman Gorge are so good for washing off the salt of the coast. Massive white boulders and cool water on the skin, so fresh you could smell it as you stroked your way forward across the surface or tumbled through the rapids.

The light is saturated in green in the forest north of the Daintree River.

Looking down over the forest to the Coral Sea I am almost part of the tangle of life.

The trunk of this palm by Cooper’s Creek is vibrant with colour.

Coral gardens I saw on the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef came in yellows, purple, reds and blues.  David Suzuki published his autobiography this year (2006), and in it he writes of going to the outer reef from Port Douglas, as I did to take these photos.  Suzuki laments the decline in the reef’s health he’s noticed over the years.  He also speaks of a moment where he watched his eighty year old Japanese father and young grandchild floating together over coral such as this, with intent and delighted faces, as one of the happiest memories of his life.   

A photo looking southwards from Green Island, off the coast of Cairns. What lies off beyond the shelving ledge of coral?

I have just been in the wet, tropical north-east of Australia for the last two weeks. The next few entries of photos are named ‘Big Earth’ in honour of the latest album by Taikoz, the Australian drum ensemble of which Riley Lee is a part. I saw a performance of Taikoz at the Cairns civic theatre on my second night in the area and this event of floating smoke and giant drums was a fitting opening ceremony to two weeks travelling through the rainforests and reefs. The music of Taikoz has has the virtues of stillness, depth, simplicity, force, and spaciousness. Good nature photography should aspire to the same virtues.