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on non-renewable energy sources and their damaging effects on the environment.

Slowly but surely, we are seeing the effects of non-sustainable building of houses and businesses being destroyed by nature and the immediate effects of Climate Change, indicating the need to rethink the architectural aspects and materials of new structures. These effects are not only in coastal areas, but also in the country and highly wooded areas as seen so graphically in Victoria, Australia very recently.

There have been a plethora of homes on our foreshores immediately under threat from rising tides and strong winds eroding the foreshores that were once (recently) seen as prize real estate properties...obviously the sellers weren't taking into account the next hundred years and possibility of storm surge. Owners of these properties are wanting to be reimbursed for damages, yet if they were diligent when they bought the properties, taking into account what the IPCC have been telling them for over a decade, they would not have taken the risk merely for the uninterrupted views and paid scant regard to future situations that did not involve financial gain. It is their problem now, and they have to accept they made a bad decision and move on.

If people intend to live by the coast, choose a high area that has solid foundations and good access. To buy on a low-lying coastal strip is fool-hardy, even with stilts. The future sea-levels and storm surges are imminent with rising temperatures of water causing expansion of oceans, therefore it is up to the purchaser to choose the most logical option and not blame anyone else or expect a handout when things don't go to plan. There is enough information out there for all of us at the end of our fingertips, on the media and via word of mouth, so no-one can claim no-one warned them.

Those choosing to live in tropical areas need to revisit the older style of tropical home with louvres rather than large pane windows. The reason for this is that hot air rises and with louvres at floor and high levels, the air can flow through the lower louvres, upwards to the higher set, being sucked out of the room, rather than locked in and circulated by a ceiling fan. Have you ever noticed how ineffective a ceiling fan is? If you are right underneath it, it may cool you down, but the air is hot where it is situated, therefore no cool air is dispersed. A pedestal or floor fan is far more effective, as they circulate the cooler air and cost less to install. Louvres

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