Dry Brown Land  

Jared Diamond was in town a few weeks ago to give some talks as part of the Sydney Writers Festival. This transcript is from a TV panel discussion he did while he was here (focussing on the sustainability of Australian agriculture).

Tonight a special guest - internationally best selling author and environmental historian - Jared Diamond. With Australia facing a crippling drought, and a quarter of a billion dollars in extra drought relief announced yesterday, it's timely that Jared Diamond is visiting Australia. In his latest book, 'Collapse', he argues that Australia has an 'exceptionally fragile' environment. And he warns that if we don't change, we could become "doomed to a declining standard of living in a steadily deteriorating environment." There's some good news too though, as we'll find out a little later on.