{"id":255480,"date":"2023-05-01T18:29:24","date_gmt":"2023-05-01T16:29:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=255480"},"modified":"2023-05-01T18:29:26","modified_gmt":"2023-05-01T16:29:26","slug":"the-conversation-can-we-justify-botanic-gardens-in-an-age-of-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=255480","title":{"rendered":"The Conversation: \u201cCan we justify \u2026 botanic gardens in an age of climate change \u2026 ?\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essay by Eric Worrall<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How much do greens hate green spaces? If they\u2019re not hacking down forests for renewables<\/a>, they\u2019re trying to turn the water off?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

The public history, climate change present, and possible future of Australia\u2019s botanic gardens<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published: April 28, 2023 6.17am AEST
Susan K Martin<\/a>
Emeritus Professor in English, La Trobe University<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can we justify maintaining water-hungry botanic gardens in an age of climate change and rising water prices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps such gardens are no longer suited to Australia\u2019s changing climate \u2013 if they ever were.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is easy to argue Australian botanic gardens are imperial remnants full of European plants, an increasingly uncomfortable reminder of British colonisation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Facing the climate emergency<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water for trees and decorative plants drawn from very different climates were always an issue for these gardens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As early as 1885, Richard Schomburgk in his role of director of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens told Nature<\/a> about the drought affecting that city and the drastic impact it was having \u201cupon many of the trees and shrubs in the Botanic Garden, natives of cooler countries\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, we don\u2019t need to rip out non-hardy introduced trees: climate change will progressively remove them for us.Read more: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/the-public-history-climate-change-present-and-possible-future-of-australias-botanic-gardens-198864<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s next? Extinction Rebellion Australia, or one of the alphabet soup of radical green groups which have sprung up like toadstools, invading our beautiful garden spaces and wrecking them in the name of saving the planet?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The funny part of this climate rant is you could make a similar argument about universities. I mean, other than a handful of laboratory facilities or studies which require in person training, like physical fitness, what is the point of maintaining large lecture halls and gardens, when people could simply learn online from home, or visit factories or hospitals to complete practical units of their work? An awful lot of water and energy is wasted maintaining the beautiful green spaces and large lecture halls and offices most universities host.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not actually suggesting universities should be closed, I think the entire premise is nonsense. But if someone wants to class water and energy use as paramount considerations, logical consistency demands that universities with their heated halls and well maintained garden spaces should be high on the list of facilities which need to be reviewed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why aren\u2019t students protesting and demanding their own universities practice what they preach, live by the green ideals they claim to uphold?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I doubt academics have even considered the possibility the rules they promote should be applied to them. I mean, look at the air miles academics clock up attending climate conferences, where one of the regular topics of conversation how to restrict ordinary people\u2019s access to air travel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why aren\u2019t students protesting and demanding their own universities practice what they preach, live by the green ideals they claim to uphold?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":255486,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691819232,691818056,691818152,691818121],"class_list":["post-255480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-botanic-gardens","tag-climate-change","tag-climate-emergency","tag-extinction-rebellion","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/0Hero-Free-Botanical-Gardens-dreamstime_xxl_43748737-1.jpg?fit=1800%2C1200&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-14sE","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":420340,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=420340","url_meta":{"origin":255480,"position":0},"title":"Scots pine \u2018could be wiped out by climate\u00a0change\u2019","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/07\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The headline \"Scots pine \u2018could be wiped out by climate change\u2019\" appears to stem from a January 2026 article in The Telegraph where horticulturalists warned of potential extinction of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) in the UK due to hotter, drier conditions stressing trees in southern England (e.g., Cambridge).","rel":"","context":"In \"Caledonian forests\"","block_context":{"text":"Caledonian forests","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=caledonian-forests"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0AQO7V70YBVVULpO8FR3KQG_ky1KLmQEUtKVAPG8n-UJS8pc0Ayo3Zz9rImcjxrLJEm2tisn-kUv-EIEfJ8lH57yFnlIrq5b3qCi_6s1aSbMakisdJEZgBmkQzrkrsupN-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C789&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0AQO7V70YBVVULpO8FR3KQG_ky1KLmQEUtKVAPG8n-UJS8pc0Ayo3Zz9rImcjxrLJEm2tisn-kUv-EIEfJ8lH57yFnlIrq5b3qCi_6s1aSbMakisdJEZgBmkQzrkrsupN-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C789&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0AQO7V70YBVVULpO8FR3KQG_ky1KLmQEUtKVAPG8n-UJS8pc0Ayo3Zz9rImcjxrLJEm2tisn-kUv-EIEfJ8lH57yFnlIrq5b3qCi_6s1aSbMakisdJEZgBmkQzrkrsupN-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C789&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0AQO7V70YBVVULpO8FR3KQG_ky1KLmQEUtKVAPG8n-UJS8pc0Ayo3Zz9rImcjxrLJEm2tisn-kUv-EIEfJ8lH57yFnlIrq5b3qCi_6s1aSbMakisdJEZgBmkQzrkrsupN-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C789&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0AQO7V70YBVVULpO8FR3KQG_ky1KLmQEUtKVAPG8n-UJS8pc0Ayo3Zz9rImcjxrLJEm2tisn-kUv-EIEfJ8lH57yFnlIrq5b3qCi_6s1aSbMakisdJEZgBmkQzrkrsupN-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C789&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":420590,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=420590","url_meta":{"origin":255480,"position":1},"title":"The Independent Refuses to Smell the Roses Regarding Winter Flowers and Climate Change","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/09\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A recent article from The Independent claims that warming average temperatures in the UK are causing more plants to bloom during winter, which point towards \u201cclimate breakdown.\u201d This is hyperbolic, there is no reason to fret over daisies blooming in winter. 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