Climate concerns are driving migration to frigid Tasmania – Is it up because of it?

Essay by Eric Worrall

One of the migrants interviewed cited power outages during the heatwave as a motivating factor.

Research by James Cook University shows climate change is a key factor in moving to Tasmania.

By Duncan Bailey
September 25, 2022 – 4:30 am

Climate change is driving more Australians to move to Tasmania, a new study finds.

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Amy Dillon, of Westbury, said the decision was for the betterment of her children.

“I think for young families, we are the people with the kids looking to the future and with everything that has happened like floods and wildfires in the last 10 years; horrible,” she said.

“If you’re paying attention and worrying about your child’s future, you’ll make choices based on that.”

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Melbourne resident Jane Gardner bought a home in Launceston this year and said the decision to move was made during the height of the Black Summer 2019 bushfires.

“I have a newborn and the mercury has climbed almost 49 degrees. In my suburbs there was a power outage, and it was too smoky outside.

“We were sitting in the tub trying to stay cool and I realized I didn’t want to do something like this anymore.”

“I have a four-year-old and I just think about him and where he can grow up when the summer is still relatively cool.

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Read more (with wall fee): https://www.examiner.com.au/story/7916998/more-people-migrating-to-tasmania-to-escape-extreme-heat-new-study-finds/

Summary of the study;

Summers are getting hotter: discovering the driving forces behind migration to Tasmania away from mainland Australia.

Osbaldiston, Nick (2022) ‘Summers are getting hotter’: exploring the drivers of migration to Tasmania away from mainland Australia. Australian Geographer. (Newspapers)

DOIs: 10.1080 / 00049182.2022.2056963

See at Publisher’s Website: https://doi.org/10.1080/00049182.2202.20…

abstract

In recent times, there has been a population shift in the island state of Tasmania due to an increase in migration of mainland urban residents. This article argues that one of the main driving factors of this change was the search for a new way of life in the region/rural life, combined with the desire for a temperate climate. As the lifestyle migration literature shows, this search for a new life does not end when migration is over. Instead, the migration experience continues well after the move. In this paper, it will show how the weather not only attracts migrants into Tasmania, but also encourages/prevents certain activities that allow individuals to engage in new ways of life. The paper suggests that while we need to be careful in romanticizing this, we can see this change as symbolic of humanity’s relationship to climate change.

Read more (with wall fee): https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/73399/

Tasmania, the coldest state in Australia, has a temperate marine climate. Summers are cool and winters are relatively mild compared to cold places like the northern United States or Canada. Tasmania’s climate is very similar to that of the South of England.

But Tasmania has its own problems. Heating in cold Tasmania is a must during winter. Tasmania is blessed with abundant hydroelectricity, but sometimes it has cold, dry years in which energy is expensive and in short supplyonly when you really need to.

I was intrigued by Melbourne resident Jane Gardner’s description of enduring a 49C (120F) heatwave in Melbourne during a blackout, because worrying about power outages was such an important part of the decision to migrate. from England to Australia, although we have come to very different conclusions about the best place to weather the coming storm.

When I moved from the UK to Australia over a decade ago, I wasn’t worried about global warming, I was worried about increasing energy costs and blackouts, about the coming energy crisis. There is clearly a risk that energy will become unbuyable, because of the Western political frenzy towards renewables and political animosity towards investment in reliable materials. . So my big motivation in choosing a place to live is somewhere I can comfortably survive all year round without needing a lot of energy to heat or cool.

My solution is Queensland’s Fraser Coast – Cool enough in the summer that we can endure by opening a few windows, warm enough in the winter that there is no risk to health if we have to eat and drink in the house. Although the Fraser Coast is much closer to the equator than Melbourne, temperatures rarely exceed 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit), unlike Melbourne, which experiences occasional heatwaves in the summer where heat temperature exceeds 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Celsius).

Although winters in Tasmania are milder than winters in the Northern US, I would love to know if Jane Gardner will reconsider her choices when she sees her first Tasmanian winter heating bill or is lost. electricity on a cold winter night. Although I doubt that I already know the answer – The Fraser Coast has one of the highest immigration rates in Queensland.