an australian feeling for snow - epress.lib.uts.edu.au

Cultural Studies Review volume 16 number 1 March 2010

http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/csrj/index Andrew Gorman-Murray 2010

An Australian Feeling for Snow

Towards Understanding Cultural and Emotional Dimensions of Climate Change

ANDREW GORMAN-MURRAY

—CARING ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE: DO AUSTRALIANS HAVE ‘A FEELING FOR SNOW’?

WhatdoessnowmeantoAustralians?Iaskedthisquestionofparticipantsinastudyon the cultural significance of snow conditions in Australia that was undertakenthroughout 2008 and 2009. This investigation was prompted by models of theimpact of climate change on snow conditions in mainland Australia published in2003 by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation(CSIRO).TheCSIROprojectedasignificantreductioninthearea,durationanddepthofwintersnowcover in theAustralianAlpsasa resultof rising temperaturesandprecipitation changes associated with global warming: the area receiving at leastthirtydaysofsnowcoverwilldecreaseby14to54percentby2020and30to93percentby2050,whiletheareawithatleastsixtydayssnowcoverwilldecreaseby18to60percentby2020and38to96percentby2050.1Simultaneously,maximumsnowdepthswilldeclineandthesnowlinewillrise:atMtKosciuszko,‘thesnowlineelevation on 1 September is predicted to rise from the present average of 1461metrestobetween1488and1624metresby2020’.2ThesefiguressuggesttheeffectofclimatechangeonsnowconditionsinAustraliawillbesignificantatthelowerendofthespectrumanddevastatingatthehigherend.

Andrew Gorman-Murray—An Australian Feeling for Snow 61

Ireacted‘emotionally’totheseprojections:Iwasshockedanddisappointed,especially about the imminence of climate change impacts. As several mediacommentarieshavenoted,thesemodelsintimatethatextantsnowconditions—andthemainlandalpineandsubalpine‘snowcountry’comprisingtheAustralianAlps—mayallbutvanishfromthecontinentbythemiddleofthiscentury.3Theemotionaltenorofmyresponsetoprojectedsnowlosswasthecatalystforaresearchproject:What do snow conditions mean to Australians? This question was framed in thecontextofclimatechangeanditsimpendingimpactsonAustraliansnowconditions.At one level, Iwanted to know if Australians cared about the diminution of snowand, consequently, those landscapes and ecosystems dependent on snow cover.4Moreover, I wanted to think about how concerned reactionsmight be channelledintoameliorativeactionsagainstclimatechange.Snowmatterstotheviabilityofthemainland ski tourism industry, of course—and this is the site of most work oncultural implicationsofsnowloss5—but Iwas interested inbroadermeaningsandfeelingsassociatedwithsnowcoverandwondered,mighttherebewiderlessonstobelearntfromourresponsestoimminentchangesinAustraliansnowconditions?

This article reflects on some of the findings of this project. I beginwith aconceptual framework,arguingfortheneedtoappreciate localised interpretationsof climate change through cultural meanings. Here, I also outline data collectionmethods: a survey, participant observation and focus group discussions. I thendiscuss several emergent themes. The survey indicated that distinct geographicalpatterns were associated with Australian snow conditions. Snow conditions andcultureswere linkedwith rural, regional and ‘natural’mountainwilderness areasrather than urban settings. This positions the project under the remit of ruralculturalstudies,addressingclimate–cultureconnectionsdiscursively linkedto,andmateriallygroundedin,regionalspaces.Simultaneously,respondentssuggestedthatthe uneven distribution of Australia’s snow conditions—concentrated in thecontinent’s south‐east—means snow loss matters in localised areas. While manyrespondentsreferredtotheAustralianAlps,Tasmaniawasalsoprofferedasaprimeexample. I consequently conducted participant observation and a focus group inHobart, the capital of Tasmania, about the localmeaning of snow conditions. Thisarticle analyses the contextual material gathered, which provides telling detailsaboutmeanings and feelings associatedwith snow conditions because, unlike the

VOLUME16 NUMBER1 MAR201062

Australian Alps, Tasmania’s snow country is not associated with the economicviabilityofskitourism.Instead,thiscaseelicitsbroaderreflectionsontheeverydayculturalsignificanceofsnowconditions,andtheemotionaltenorofchangestolocalsnow cover. Discussants demonstrated snow loss mattered culturally andemotionally, compromising local cultural activities and meanings, and invokingemotiveresponses.

Beforemovingon,Imustclarifythelocalspecificityofthisanalysisandtheimportance of such an approach. There is notable localised variability of climate,culture and, thus, climate–culture connections across Tasmania. After initiallydiscussingtheregionalisationofimaginativeandmaterialgeographiesofAustraliansnow conditions, the penultimate section of this article focuses exclusively onHobartresidents’perceptionsandexperiencesofimmediate(Hobartian)andwider(Tasmanian) snow cover changes. Through theoretically informed empiricaldiscussionsoftheseregionalandlocalgeographiesIaimtoadvanceunderstandingsofthespatialcontingencyofclimate–culturerelationshipsinAustralia.Todothis,Iargue that conceptual refinement must be informed by, and emerge through,measured discussion of grounded empirical examples. Socially relevantconceptualisationscometolightthroughcloseconsiderationofcontextualdata.Thisisparticularlypertinentwithsomethingasneedyofpragmaticresultsasarrestingglobalwarming. Abstract(ed) conceptualisations of cultural dimensions of climatechange are not the most appropriate avenue for assisting grounded action andpromptingchangesinculturalpracticesandbehaviours.Inconclusion,then,Iarguethat climate change impacts on local cultural and emotional attachments cancontributetopracticalandpoliticalargumentsaboutaddressingclimatechange.

—CULTURAL AND EMOTIONAL DIMENSIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE: CONCEPTS AND METHODS

MyprojectrespondstoHulme’srecentcallformoreculturalgeographicalworkonclimate change.6 Hulme, whose interdisciplinary approach to climate changestraddles both human and physical geography, asserts that since the mid‐1980sclimatechangepolicyandpublicdiscoursehasbeenshapedbythenaturalsciences,whereclimateis‘definedpurelyinphysicalterms,constructedfrommeteorologicalobservations, predicted inside the software of Earth system science models andgoverned (or not) through multi‐lateral agreements and institutions’.7 This


approach is incomplete,hecontends,because it isdisembodied fromtheeverydayhumanactivities,observationsandfeelingsthatgivemeaningandvaluetoclimate,andbyextension, climatechange.8 Instead,Hulmeargues that ‘registersof climatecan be read in memory, behaviour, text and identity as much as they can bemeasuredthroughmeteorology’,andthusthefullimpactofclimatechangecanonlybeproperlyunderstoodwhenitsphysicaldimensionsarealsointerpretedbytheirentwined cultural meanings.9 Consequently, he urges a re‐examination of climatechangewhich‘needstostartwithcontributionsfromtheinterpretativehumanitiesand social sciences, married to a critical reading of the natural sciences, andinformedbyaspatiallycontingentviewofknowledge’.10

The present study contributes to the re‐examination of climate change intermsofculturalmeanings.Inparticular,Ideployaculturalgeographicalapproach,takingupHulme’slastpointaboveregardingthere‐examinationofclimatechange:cultural understandings of climate are spatially and locally contingent.11 Thedominantnaturalscienceapproachtoclimatehasenumerated—ratherthan‘felt’—local changes in temperature and precipitation, pegging these statistics intoplanetary‐scalemodels of globalwarming.This universalmodelling techniquehascleaved changes in weather patterns from their localised cultural meanings andconstitutive values. Rather than a visceral, embodied and emotional experience ofdrought, rain or snow,meteorologicalmodels of global warming de‐contextualiselocal knowledge of climate patterns and weather experiences.12 This spatialdissociationengenderssevereproblems forpolicy‐drivenattempts toadvocate foreffectiveresponses toclimatechange,especially in thedevelopedWest.13Over thelast decade a range of surveys has shown that the globalised discourse of climatechange has distanced and de‐contextualised the problem from our everydaylifeworlds14—particularly in the West, with our reliance on air‐conditioning andheating to ‘terra‐form’ our immediate environment.15 This provides a way forindividualstoexpressconcern,butavoidbehaviouralchange:It’saglobalproblem,sowhatIdolocallywon’treallymakeadifference.16

Thankfully,asrecentreportsbyHulmeandHead17acknowledge,newworkhasbegun to explore local culture–climate connections to show the importanceofinterpreting weather patterns and climate change through local meanings andvalues. For instance, Strauss and Orlove’s collection Weather, Climate, Culture


presentslocalcasestudiesfromaroundtheworldtodemonstratethat‘ourdifferentculturesshapethewaywethinkaboutandrespondtotheweather’,andthus‘aswefacethe impactsthatclimatechangeprocessesbringtoourcommunities,wemustrecognizethatourperceptionsaswellasourreactionsareshapedbyourcultures’.18Localmeaningsof climatehavealsobeencritical ina continental‐scalenation likeAustralia.Sherratt,GriffithsandRobin’scollectionAChangeintheWeather:Climateand Culture in Australia provides various historical and geographical case studieswhich interrogate the relationship between climate and Australian culture.19TogethertheyarguethatlocalweatherpatternsandclimatetrendsinAustraliahavebeen ‘invested with meanings that cannot be read from a thermometer or raingauge’andhave‘mergedwiththeimaginingofnationhood,withtheconstructionofan Australian identity’.20 This project follows the path initiated by these scholars,focusing on local and national values around a particular climate pattern—Australian snow conditions—in order to advance localised cultural and emotionalpromptsregardingclimatechangemeaningsandresponses.

In particular, understanding individuals’ emotional responses to alteredlandscapesandseasonalrhythmshasbeenabsentfromresearchonclimatechangeto date.21 This lacuna demands attention. As I suggested above, individuals ‘feel’their environments through ‘embodied’ engagements with seasonal weatherconditions,22 and it is clear that climate change will fundamentally alter seasonalpatterns of precipitation, humidity and temperature.23 Yetmuchwork on ‘humandimensions’ of climate change (as it is called by natural scientists) utilises riskperception lenses that gauge public opinion on the relative importance of climatechangevisàvisothersocioeconomicandenvironmentalissues.24Theseapproachesfavour cognitive rational‐choice models, which assume individuals ‘distance’themselves fromtheirenvironments tomake ‘rational’assessmentsofclimateriskoverconsiderationsofsensoryengagementswithplace.25Theythereforeexhibitthesameproblemsasscientificmodelsofglobalwarming,cleavinghumanperceptionsfrom everyday experiences of landscape, climate and weather. Insights from theburgeoning field of emotional geographies might address this gap.26 Within thisbodyofwork,emotionsareunderstoodnotasinteriormentalstates,butrelationalachievements that provide the connective tissue between individuals and place.27While there are several traditions informing emotional geographies,


phenomenologicalapproachesaremost relevant tomyconcernshere.28Under thebannerofhumanistic geography,phenomenological geographershaveemphasisedtheimportanceofexperientialdimensionsofplace,feltthroughembodiedpractices,for understanding local and regional cultural values.29 In this light, emotionalresponsesare situatedembodiedengagements that cementplaceattachmentsandmeanings,andthusprovidenewinsightintolocalmeaningsofclimatechange.

Forthisstudyamixedmethoddatacollectionapproachwasadopted,andarangeofqualitativedatahasbeengathered.Theintentofusingmixedmethodswasto access multi‐scaled andmulti‐local perspectives on the cultural significance ofAustralian snow conditions in light of climate change. This included meaningsframedatboth the scalesof thenationand the region,with localised case studies(below). Initially, a qualitative online survey was conducted between March andOctober 2008. Thirty questions were designed to elicit general knowledge of thegeography of Australian snow conditions, personal experiences of snow, andreactions to theprojected loss of snow coverdue to climate change. Through thiscollectionprocessIwantedtogainanational‐scaleperspective,soanonlinesurveywas used to expediently access views from across the country. An invitationwasdistributed through various online groups focused on environment and climateawareness, including Weather Zone, Envirotalk and Climate Change Action.30Importantly, these groups largely comprise interested members of the generalpublic, not environmental scientists, and thus this purposeful sampling wasintended to contact people interested (and/or sceptical) about climate changescenarios.Ninety‐fiveresponseswerereceived:forty‐threefromNewSouthWales,thirtyfromVictoria,sevenfromTasmania,fiveeachfromQueenslandandWesternAustralia,threefromSouthAustralia,andtwofromtheAustralianCapitalTerritory.Of therespondents,95.8percenthadBritishorEuropeanancestryand theiragesranged from sixteen to sixty‐eight years. I have analysed these data elsewhere,alongsidearchivalmaterials,tointerrogatenationalculturalvaluesoftheAustralianAlpsvisàvis climatechange.31 Iuse themhere tounderstand thespatialand localcontingencyunderpinningmeaningsofsnow.

The second stage of data collection was designed to access localisedpractices,feelingsandvaluesassociatedwithsnowconditions,andcomprisedfocusgroups and participant observation in places strongly linked with snow culture.


Accordingly, I spent aweek inHobart in July 2008, inwinter, observing everydayinteractions between local residents and snow conditions. As intimated in theintroduction, I chose Tasmania rather than the Australian Alps because of thecomparatively lesser prominence of commercial ski tourism, andmore ‘mundane’relationshipswith snow cover. I interactedwith locals, asked about the historicalgeography of snow in Hobart and Tasmania, and observed casual utterances andconversationsaboutlocalsnowconditions.Ialsoconductedafocusgroupwithlocalresidents aboutwhat snowmeans to Hobartians and Tasmanians, including linkswith local cultural practices and values and how these are being affected bychanging climatic trends. Participants were recruited with the help of a keyinformant with ‘insider’ knowledge of local snow cultures. These discussions andobservationsprovidedvaluableinsightsintoculturalandemotionalattachmentstolocalsnowconditions.InthepenultimatesectionofthisarticleIinterpretthisdata,combined with the seven survey responses from Hobartians, to understandmeanings and feelings associated with climate change impacts on local climate–culture connections. First, I discuss what the survey revealed about the culturalgeographyofAustralian snow, including theplace ofHobart andTasmania in thisspatialimaginary.

—SPATIAL CONTINGENCIES: IMAGINATIVE AND MATERIAL GEOGRAPHIES OF AUSTRALIAN SNOW

In the survey I specifically asked respondents:What is your knowledge of snowconditionsinAustralia?Writeinasmuchdetailasyoulikeabouttheplaceswhereit

snows. The seventy‐six respondents who answered this question indicated thatparticular geographicalpatternswere associatedwithAustralian snowconditions.This, in turn, reveals some of the culturalmeanings about snow in Australia, andhow theydiffer fromother countries.The results, listed in frequencyofmentions,arecontainedinTable1.

What taken‐for‐granted geographical connections are evident through theresponses? Table 1 indicates that Australian snow conditions are overwhelminglyassociatedwithruralareas.Outoftwenty‐threediscretelocalitiesnamed,fourteenare rural regions—including thosemaking up the top thirteen responses. Overall,rural regions across the country werementioned 266 times, while urban centres(withpopulationsmorethan20,000people)werementionedonlytwenty‐seven


Rank Regionorlocality Numberof

mentions

1 SnowyMountains(NSW) 542 VictorianHighCountry/VictorianAlps 503 Tasmania/TasmanianHighlands 384 NorthernTablelandsandBarringtonTops(NSW) 165 BlueMountains(NSW) 156 CentralHighlands(Victoria) 147 GreatDividingRangeinsouthernQueensland 148 CentralWestSlopesofDividingRange(NSW) 139 StirlingRangesandsouth‐westWesternAustralia 1310 Tasmanianlowlands 1111 FlindersRanges,Mt.LoftyRanges,AdelaideHills(SA) 1012 Victorianlowlandsandcoastalranges(e.g.Otways) 913 SouthernNSWandtheMonaro 814 Hobart(Tasmania) 7

15 Canberra(ACT) 4

16 Orange(NSW) 4

17 Armidale(NSW) 3

18 Melbourne–suburbs(Victoria) 3

19 Bathurst(NSW) 2

20 Ballarat(Victoria) 2

21 Goulbourn(NSW) 1

22 Bendigo(Victoria) 1

23 Uluru(NT) 1

Table 1: Regions and cities associated with snow conditions in Australia, from seventy-six

respondents times(theseareitalicisedinthetable).Inotherwords,respondentswerealmosttentimesmore likelytomentionaruralregionthanacity.Thisdiscursiveassociationbetween snow conditions and rural space is also shown in the language used todescribe snow‐bound areas in Australia: the Australian Alps, for instance, is ‘the


snowcountry’.32Thiscontrastswiththecultural‐geographicalassociationsofsnowconditions overseas, especially in Eurasia and North America, where snow is asmuch an urban phenomenon as a rural one. Discursive imaginaries and everydayknowledge render various large cities snow‐bound in the northern hemispherewinter—for example, Moscow and St Petersburg (Russia), Toronto and Montreal(Canada),ChicagoandMinneapolis(US),Harbin(China),Sapporo(Japan)andOslo(Norway). In the ‘north’ there is no necessary equivalent to our ‘snow country’—snowfallsacrossbothurbanandruralareas—whileinAustraliamostsnowfallsinsparsely populated rural areas. As one respondent (Anglo‐Australian male, 54,Melbourne) noted, ‘Very few Australians live above the snowline, or in factanywhere near it. Australian snow coverage is all remote.’ Indeed, the onlymajorcities that receive (a few centimetres of) snow every few years are Hobart andCanberra,asthesurveyresultsintimated.33

This configuration of the Australian snow country within an urban–ruralbinarycanbefurtherrefined.Asrecentgeographicalworkinruralculturalstudiesstresses, the meaning of ‘the rural’ in Australia is highly differentiated, spanningpastoral, bush,outbackandother imaginaries inamulti‐scalar fashion.34Applyingthis diversity to the present case, Table 1 shows that cultural understandings ofAustralian geography predominantly link snow conditions with mountainousterrainacrossthecontinent—theGreatDividingRange,FlindersRangesandStirlingRanges, for instance—andinparticular,withalpineandsubalpinemountainareas,notably the Snowy Mountains, the Victorian High Country and the TasmanianHighlands. These are particular ‘ideal‐types’ of rurality: to adapt Bell’s terms,‘wildscapes’,associatedwithwildernessandpristinenature,and‘adventurescapes’,groomed for outdoor sporting activities.35 Bell’s third ‘species’ of rural space, theagrarian‐pastoral ‘farmscape’, is almost absent from associations with Australiansnowconditions;theonlynotedregionthatreallyfitsistheCentralWestSlopesofthe Dividing Range in New South Wales. Ecologically speaking, the connectionsbetween alpine and subalpine mountain terrain and snow conditions is notsurprising. Snow is, after all, one of the defining weather patterns of alpineenvironments.ButwhatthisdoesindicateisthatAustralians’understandingsofthegeographical range of snow conditions is much more contained than that ofresidents of overseas countries, where non‐alpine snow cover across lower‐lying


farmland areas is common during winter, especially the prairie and steppefarmscapesofEurasiaandNorthAmerica.

Furthermore,snowconditionsarepredominantlylinkedwiththesouth‐eastofthecontinent.Thisisnotsurprising—forthisiswherethehighermountainsareconcentrated—but what is important is that within this geographical pattern,Tasmania isprominent in thespatial framingof theAustraliansnowcountry.Thisgeographical imaginary is multifaceted. First, Tasmania ranked third in terms ofregionalassociationswithsnowconditions—thirty‐eightrespondents(50percent)iterated this link. Significantly, only six of these were Tasmanian residents. ThisindicatesthattheassociationbetweenTasmaniaandsnowconditionsiscommoninwider national imaginaries of regional variation and geographical localisation ofclimaticconditions.Second,Tasmania isoneof the fewregionswheresnow isnotpurely linked with alpine highlands: thirteen of these respondents invokedTasmania—as a state, in its entirety—with snow conditions (no other state orterritorywaslinkedthus,noteventheAustralianCapitalTerritory);afurtherelevenpeoplespecificallymentionedsnowfallontheTasmanian lowlands.Third,of thosefew cities noted as snowy places, Hobart ranked highest with seven mentions,almosttwiceasmanyasthenexttwocities,OrangeandCanberra.

TheimplicationofthesevariousassociationsisthatTasmania,asastate, isdiscursivelylinkedwithasnowyclimateinnationalculturalandspatialimaginariesmorethanotherAustralianstates.Snowconditions,andassociatedlocalknowledgeandpractices, appear tobepartofwhatdefinesadistinctTasmanian identityandimaginary.AsoneTasmanianrespondent(Anglo‐Australianmale,68,Hobart)noted,‘Snow makes Tasmania different from the mainland’, while another (Anglo‐Australianmale,32,SouthHobart)asserted,‘Ilovesnow.Ithinkit’snicehavingfourseasons in a year.’ Paralleling this theme, several respondents suggested that theimpactofclimatechangeonsnowcoverwouldmattermoreinthoseplaceswitharegular connection to snow conditions, particularly Tasmania (as well as theAustralianAlps).FollowingHulme’sargument,then,thereisaneedtopayattentiontothe localmeaningsandfeelingsassociatedwithparticularclimaticconditionstobetterunderstandhowclimatechangewill impactonculturalvaluesandpracticesand, consequently, make stronger arguments for behavioural changes that mightassistinamelioratingtheeffectsofglobalwarming.Giventhatastronglinkbetween


snow conditions and Tasmanian lifestyles emerged in the survey responses, Iundertook fieldwork in Hobart about the meaning of climate change impacts onHobartian and wider Tasmanian snow conditions. I analyse those findings in thepenultimatesectionofthisarticle.

—CULTURAL AND EMOTIONAL DIMENSIONS OF SNOW LOSS IN HOBART AND TASMANIA

Analyses of the cultural and emotional dimensions of snow loss in Tasmania isdrawn here from three data sources outlined earlier: a one‐and‐a‐half hour focusgroup discussion held in Hobart on this topic, combined with replies from sevensurvey respondents resident in Hobart, and participant observation in Hobartduringwinter2008.The focusgroupdiscussantscomprisedtwowomen(both30‐something) and two men (one 30‐something, one 50‐something), all tertiary‐educated, environmentally conscious Anglo‐Australians.36 It is important to notethat thedata isbasedonresponses fromaparticularpartofTasmania—Hobart—and that in analysing this material I am therefore focusing on perceptions andexperiences of snow loss provided by Hobartians. In describing their personalencounterswithsnow,bothfocusgroupandsurveyrespondentsdrewattentiontolocalexperiencesof(changesin)snowcover;thatis,onconditionsandengagementsinandaroundHobart.But, simultaneously, therespondentsalsoreflectedon theirexperiencesofsnow,andperceptionsofsnowcoverchanges,acrossTasmaniamorewidely. As respondents themselves suggested, such multi‐scaled engagement isperhapsenabledbythesmallersizeofTasmaniacomparedtootherstates.Thedatathus elicited responses to both Hobartian andwider Tasmanian changes in snowcover,andanalysisofthesediscussions,responsesandobservationseducedseveralthemes about spatially contingent cultural values and emotional facets ofTasmania’sdiminishingsnowconditions. I focuson four intersecting themes: localsensitivitytosnowcoverchange;localculturalmeaningsaboutsnowconditionsandclimatechange;theroleofaccessibilitytosnowinculturalpracticesandvalues;andemotional responses to climate change impacts on snow conditions and cultures.While I discuss each in turn—roughly—they are not discrete elements, of course.Rather,theyinterleavetoproduceamultifacetednetofclimate–cultureconnections,andtheseintersectionsareapparentbelow.


While the CSIRO advocatesmoremeteorologicalwork be done on climatechange impacts onTasmanian snow conditions,37 respondents indicated that localsnowlossiswellunderway.Take,forinstance,thesesurveyresponses:

IbelievethatHobart’ssnowfallnumbersandintensityhavegreatlyfallenoffinrecentdecades.[Anglo‐Australianmale,68,Glenorchy]PeoplesayitusedtobecolderandHobarthasreceivedsnow—IhaveyettoseeitotherthanonMtWellington[adjacentHobart]andotherpeaksinTasmania.[Britishmale,64,Lindisfarne]Really,overthelasttwenty‐fiveyearsMtWellington’ssnowfallshavegotalotless!![Anglo‐Australianmale,32,SouthHobart]

Likewise,focusgroupdiscussantsnotedaconsiderabledeclineinsnowfallandsnowcover over the last twodecades. Susan has lived all her life in Ferntree, a higher‐elevationHobartsuburbwhichhasfelttheeffectsofchangingsnowconditions:

Susan:IgrewupinFerntreeatabout500metresaltitudeonMtWellingtonandweused to get snowed in twoor three times a year in the ’70s and’80s,andithasn’thappenedfor—itnowonlyhappensonceeverytwoorthreeyears.Andrew:Haveyouspokentootherpeople in theareaabout thataswell?Havetheyseenthesamething?Susan: Oh yeah, it’s well understood, well observed, definitely. A visiblesignofhowtheclimate’schanging.

John, meanwhile, reiterated the diminishing snow conditions higher up MtWellington:

Certainlythere’sbeenalotlesssnowuptherethanthereusedtobe.We’vehadyearswhenthere’sbeenalmostnosnowrightthroughwinter…It’sacombination of warmer winters and drier winters that hasmeant therehas been less snow up there than there has been.Well, I think Susan isright—the last time there was regular snowfall was the late ’80s andperhaps just into the early ’90s. Since then it’s been, as I’m saying, lessprecipitationandwarmerinthewinter.These assertions affirm Hulme’s argument about the need to recognise

meanings of climate change as locally contingent. Weather is felt locally, througheveryday embodied practices, which in turn contextualise—or ‘ground’—the


cultural values associatedwith (changing) climatic conditions. Iwant to juxtaposetwoinstancesofclimate–cultureconnectivity—anobservationInoted,subsequentlyreworkedbythefocusgroup—tohighlighttheimportanceof localmeaningswhenthinking about the challenges posed by climate change. In Hobart I visitedWrestPointCasino,andwalkedthroughacorridorof‘representative’imagesofTasmania.Over half the photographs featured snow‐covered landscapes or wintery alpinemountaintops. It seemedthroughthese images thatsnowconditionswere integraltoTasmanianimaginaries.Irelatedthisduringthefocusgrouptoaskdiscussantsifthey thought snow conditions were an important aspect of Tasmanian identitywhichdifferedfrommainlandAustralia,andifclimatechangewoulddetrimentallyaffect this ‘snowy’ Tasmanian identity. While they agreed that such imagescommonly symbolised Tasmania, they saw these as a ‘marketing construct’, not areflection of how snow conditions shape the everyday meanings and culturalpractices of Tasmanians themselves. Rather than climate change and diminishingsnow compromising symbolic images of Tasmania, discussants were moreconcernedwiththeimpactonlocalculturalvaluesandpractices.Forinstance,Johnsaid:

I think for me it’s verymuch a problem for us as locals that that snowexperience is becoming less frequent and to some extent non‐existent. IjustlovetakingpeopleintothesnowifIcan.IlovetakingmykidsintothesnowbecauseIknewthey’dlikeit.IhavealotofvisitorstoTasmaniaandifIgotanopportunityIwouldtakethemintothesnow,particularlyiftheycome from countrieswhere theydon’t get snowexperiences—or even iftheycomefromAdelaide.In describing accessible snow experiences, John hinted at a keyway snow

conditions entwine with local cultural practices and values. While Tasmania’ssoutherly latitude compared to mainland Australia means snow is more likely,simultaneously the small size of the island‐state—again, comparedwithmainlandstates—means that Tasmanians have tangible interactions, rather than simplyimaginativeassociations,withsnowconditions.Indeed,discussantsreflectedontheroleofscaleandaccessibilityinTasmania’ssnowculture:

Susan:Geographically,it’sasmallarea.Itwouldbeinterestingtoknowbystatewhatlevelofpopulationlivedwithinhalfaday’sdriveofsnowwhen


it does happen. Here [in Hobart] we’ve got half—50 per cent of thepopulation—atthebaseofMtWellington.That’sprettysignificant,Ithink.BeingaTasmanian,it[snow]ispartoftherichtapestryoflife.IthinkofitasbeingdistinctivefrommainlandAustralia.Linda:EventhoughI’veonlybeeninTasmaniatwelveyears,snowispartofmyphotoalbum,myhistoryofwhere I recreate [take recreation]andliveandplay.It’sabackdrop.It’sbeautiful.

AlltheparticipantsagreedthatthegeographicalsizeofTasmaniameantthatmorepeople were proximate to and regularly experienced snow conditions as part oftheireverydaylivesthanmostotherAustralians.Dan,forinstance,providedhisownobservationonsnow’sroutineplaceinlocallives:

I was at the supermarket this morning and I overheard threeconversationsabout theweatherand theyallendedwith, ‘Thesnowwillbedownlowtoday.’Thatwastheirconversations.‘IbetthesnowisdownatFerntree’,or‘Peoplewillbefightinghardtogettoworkthismorning.’In thisvignette,Dan, likeSusan, referred to thecommonpresenceof snow

onMtWellington,Hobart’smountainbackdrop,whichrises1271metresabovesealevel.38Duringwinter,asSusannoted,snoweasilyfallsinhigherelevationsuburbsat the foot of themountain, such as Ferntree. Indeed,while Iwas there the snowreacheddowntofivehundredmetresabovesealevel(Figure1).Butmoreover,bothsurveyandfocusgroupparticipantsindicatedthatsnowcanbeayear‐roundeventon the mountain; as one survey respondent (Anglo‐Australian male, 32, SouthHobart)wrote:

OnMtWellingtonthesnowcanfallanytimeoftheyear.Ihaveseensnowsettle as low as 600m in summertime, and just this February [2008]wehadabouta10–12cmfallonthemountain.

The constant possibility and presence of snow on Mt. Wellington embeds snowconditionsinlocalHobartianculturesandvalues.Moreover,this locallycontingentclimate–culture relationship has a crucial emotional register as well. Johnevocatively expressed this emotional connection to local weather patterns, andparticularlydiminishingsnowconditions,catalysedthroughMtWellington:

WhenyouliveinHobart,peopletalkaboutthemoodsofthemountain,andsnow is one of the important moods of the mountain. And we’re not


getting that particularmood as often aswe feelweperhaps ought to begettingitandthatisadisappointingthing…Ifyou’renotgettingsnowaspart of that experience for very long periods of time you do notice thatsomethinghaschanged.Itprobablyhitsalotofpeopleinthefacethatthatis no longer a mood which we’re experiencing and we can’t take it forgrantedanylonger.

Throughevokingthe‘moodsofthemountain’,Johnnotonlyreinforcedtheclimatechange impact on locally contingent cultural meanings of snow conditions, butdemonstrated that these local climate–culture connections have a powerfulemotionalresonancewhichisbeingupsetbytheeffectsofglobalwarming.Indeed,emotive languagepermeateddiscussants’speech,articulatingunderlyingsensesofangst,disappointmentanddisorientationassociatedwithdiminishinglocalsnowfall.

Thesenseofemotionalconnectionanddissonancewithebbingsnowcoverextends beyond the vicinity of Hobart, into the wider Tasmanian countryside aswell.Accessibilitytorural,mountainousandwildernessareasmeans,asSusansaid,‘we’ve got such an outdoor culture down here. There are somany people that gobushwalking and cross‐country skiing.’ The discussants focused on cross‐countryskiing as a Tasmanian cultural practice—and emotive experience—seriouslyaffectedbysnowloss.Inwinter,muchofthecountrysidewasaccessibleforcross‐

Figure 1: Snow-capped Mt Wellington from Salamanca Place, 4 July 2008 (photograph: Andrew

Gorman-Murray)


countryskiing;participantsmentionedtheSnowyRange,theWellingtonRange,theCentral Highlands, Mt Field and Ben Lomond. Susan intimated that cross‐countryskiingwas popular because it facilitated an emotional appreciation of the naturalenvironmentinsnowcover:

Skiingisanextensionofbushwalkingforme,andIthinkI’mnotaloneinTasmania.Ifyoubushwalkyou’requitelikelytoalsowanttogooutinthesnowinwinter.Bushwalkerstendtoputoncross‐countryskisandgooutfor an experience that involves appreciating the aesthetics in the backcountry, physical challenge and the solitude and beauty of thatenvironment.

However, cross‐countryskiinghasbeenprogressively limitedover the lastdecadebecauseofnoticeabledecline in the regularity,depthanddurationof snowacrossthe traditional cross‐country zones. All the discussants had been forced to curtailtheirskiingexcursionsover this time,andexpresseddisappointmentover the lossofwildernesssnowconditions.Thisemotionalresponsehadatleastthreelevelsofmeanings.JohnandSusanlamentedthedamagingimpactofdiminishedsnowcoveronlocalenvironmentsandendemicecosystems;DanandJohnconveyedfrustrationthattheirchildrenwouldn’thavethesameopportunitytoexperienceregularsnowconditions; all regretted that the peaceful silence and serene beauty of snow‐coveredbushlandscapeswasalessfrequentexperience.

—HOPING FOR CHANGE: PRACTICAL AND POLITICAL OUTCOMES

Climate change is threateningpartsof theworld’s cultural andhistoricalheritage, but the possible loss or damage to these irreplaceable sites israrelyrepresentedineconomicestimatesof thecostofclimatechange…changes in local climatemay… relegate to history some climate‐relatedfeaturesthatoncereinforcedsharedvaluesandmemories.39

As Dow and Downing contend, in altering natural environments, seasons andweatherpatterns, globalwarming seriously affects cultural values andheritage aswell. Modification of cultural practices and meanings in turn evokes emotiveresponses as lifestyles, expectations and experiences are reoriented in line withchanging climatic conditions. Cultural adaption to a changing climate comes at an


emotionalcost.However, theculturalandemotional fallout fromclimatechangeisonlynowgainingattentionfromresearchers,governmentsandpolicy‐makers.

ByconsideringthemeaningofAustraliansnowconditionsinlightofglobalwarming, and particularly through a case study of the cultural and emotionaldimensionsofHobart’sandTasmania’sdiminishingsnowconditions,Ihavesoughttoadvancetheseoftenoverlookedelementsofclimatechange.Thiswasarelativelysmall‐scalesampleandthespecificfindingsarenotreadilygeneralisable.Butthat’sprecisely the point of the study—to access and understand localised meanings ofclimate change.AsHulmeargued, to fully grasp the impactof climate change, andcrafteffectivepolicyandbehavioural responses,wemustrecognise thatclimate isinterpreted through localised cultural values and emotive experiences. Whileclimatechangescience,statisticsandprotocolsarereifiedataplanetaryscale, theimpact of climate change is felt locally through adjusting embodied practices. Byreconnecting climate change research with local meanings and feelings, we canbetterunderstandwhatmaypromptbehavioural changeswhichmight amelioratesome of the effects of global warming on landscapes, weather and lifestyles.40Reflecting local values and feelings back to constituencies might help individualsandcommunitiesrealisetheycancontributetoclimatechangeactionthroughtheireverydaypractices.As John saidat theendof the focusgroupdiscussion, ‘There’severyreasontotryandarresttherapiditywithwhichchangetakesplace.’

Consequently, I argue that in terms of practice and politics, culturalgeography research has much to offer policy‐makers charged with addressingclimate change, complementing themonitoring andmeasurements contributed bynatural sciences. As suggested above, these advances centre on the cultural andemotional tangibility of the local scale as a prompt for action. The saliency ofproposalsprojectedatthenationalscalemaybehardforpeopletoperceivebecausethisscaleisbeyondindividuals’lifeworlds.Butfocusinginitiativesatthelocallevelmay better encourage changes in everyday practices—such as reducing carbonemissionsfromhouseholdsandbusinessesthroughmodifiedconsumptionhabits—because people have an attachment to their local environment and its seasonalshifts. This is the immediate context of their homes, lives and livelihoods. AsLorenzoniandPidgeonargue,‘situatingclimatechange“inthelocality”willprovidethedriver to initiatebehaviouralchange,as thebenefitsbecometangible toactive


participants’withintheirownlifeworlds.41Inturn,successful ‘locallevelinitiativesmay set the precedent’ for and prompt wider‐ranging national policies.42 Indeed,emotionalandsensoryexperienceofourlocalenvironmentisafundamentalpartofourqualityof life, and thus should crucially inform the termsof social justice andenvironmentalpolicyatallscales.43

How,then,mightthisprojectalsoaddressandadvancetheburgeoningworkinruralculturalstudies?Ruralculturalstudiesisanunrulyfield,comprisingarangeof issues and approaches.44 The point of commonality is a sense of material andimaginative geography, with questions of rurality and regionality at the fore.Extendingtheaboveassertions,whatthisparticularprojectunderlinesisthehighlydifferentiatednatureofruralityinAustralia,intermsoflocalities,scales,landscapes,communitiesandclimaticconditions.AsGorman‐Murray,Darian‐SmithandGibsonhavepointedout,ruralimagesinandofAustraliarangeacrossassociationswiththebush, the outback, pastoralism, mining, indigenous title, idyllic communities,commodifiednaturetourism,interalia.Ebbingsnowcoveraddsanotherlandscapeand layer to Australian rural imaginaries: the sensitivity of alpinewilderness andregional snow country to changing climatic conditions. Drought and temperatureincreasesassociatedwithglobalwarmingnotonlyaffectfarmingcommunities,butalso a range of other cultural practices and communities embedded in rural andregionalAustralia.ThecaseofTasmania’sdiminishingsnow—likethatofmainlandAustralia—foretellsthesevere,butdifferentiated,impactsclimatechangewillhaveonmany rural and regional communities. Awareness of these different ruralities,regionalities, communities and impacts is needed to effectively address thechallengeofclimatechange.

—

AndrewGorman‐MurrayisaresearchfellowinHumanGeographyattheUniversityof Wollongong. His rural cultural research interests include heritage, tourism,festivals, place‐making, sexual minorities in regional Australia, and culturaldimensionsofenvironmentalandclimatechange.ThisworkhasbeenpublishedinEnvironment and Planning A, Antipode, Gender, Place and Culture, AustralianGeographer, Australian Humanities Review, Rural Society, Journal of Tourism andCulturalChangeandM/CJournal.<[email protected]>


—ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ThankstoEmilyPotterandCliftonEversfortheirencouragement,andtherefereesfortheirconstructivecriticismsontheinitialsubmission.TheprojectwassupportedbyfundingfromtheUniversityofWollongong’sGeoQuESTResearchCentre.

—NOTES 1KevinHennessy,PennyWhetton,IanSmith,JaniceBathols,MichaelHutchinsonandJasonSharples,TheImpactofClimateChangeonSnowConditionsinMainlandAustralia,CSIROAtmosphericResearch,Aspendale,Victoria,2003.2Hennessyetal,p.5;NevilleNicholls,‘ClimateVariability,ClimateChangeandtheAustralianSnowSeason’,AustralianMeteorologicalMagazine,vol.54,no.3,2005,pp.177–85.Variationinprojectedsnowcoverandsnowlinechangeresultsfromlowandhighimpactscenariosaroundtemperatureandprecipitationchanges.Thelowimpactscenariois+0.2°Cand+0.9percentprecipitation(over1990levels)by2020,and+0.6°Cand+2.3percentprecipitationby2050.Thehighimpactscenariois+1°Cand‐8.3percentprecipitationby2020,and+2.9°Cand‐24percentprecipitationby2050.3StephaniePeatling,‘2100,AClimaticOdyssey’,SydneyMorningHerald,5–6July2008,pp.1,6;SarinaTalip,‘AlpstobeMarketedtoOverseasVisitorsasUnique’,CanberraTimes,17June2008,p.4.4SignificantsnowcoverlossspellstheendofalpineandsubalpineecosystemsinAustralia,includingadaptedfaunalikemountainpygmypossumsandalpinetreefrogs.SeevariouschaptersinKenGreen(ed.),Snow:ANaturalHistory;AnUncertainFuture,AustralianAlpsLiaisonCommittee,Canberra,1998;Catherine Pickering, Roger Good and Ken Green, PotentialEffectsofGlobalWarmingontheBiotaoftheAustralianAlps,ReportfortheAustraliaGreenhouseOffice,2004. 5UrsKönig,TourisminaWarmerWorld:ImplicationsofClimateChangeduetoEnhancedGreenhouseEffectfortheSkiIndustryintheAustralianAlps,UniversitatZurich,Zurich1998;UrsKönig,‘ClimateChangeandtheAustralianSkiIndustry’,inKenGreen(ed.),Snow,pp.207–23;SharonBicknellandPhilMcManus,‘TheCanaryintheCoalmine:AustralianSkiResortsandtheirResponsetoClimateChange’,GeographicalResearch,vol.44,no.4,2006,pp.386–400;Hennessyetal.6MikeHulme,‘GeographicalWorkattheBoundariesofClimateChange’,TransactionsoftheInstituteofBritishGeographers,vol.33,no.1,2008,pp.5–11.7Hulme,p.6.8JohnThornesandGlenMcGregor,‘CulturalClimatology’,inStephenTrudgillandAndréRoy(eds),ContemporaryMeaningsinPhysicalGeography:FromWhattoWhy?Arnold,London,2003,pp.173–97;JulieDoyle,‘Picturing the Clima(c)tic: Greenpeace and the Representational Politics of Climate Change Communication (1994–present)’, Science as Culture, vol. 16, no. 2, 2007, pp. 129–50.9Hulme,p.7.10Hulme,p.5.11SeealsoIreneLorenzoniandNickPidgeon,‘PublicViewsonClimateChange:EuropeanandUSAPerspectives’,ClimaticChange,vol.77,nos1–2,2006,pp.73–95.12Forfurtherdetailsontheculturalsignificanceofseasonalweatherpatterns,seeaspecialissueofLandscapeResearchon‘LandscapeandSeasonality’,vol.30,no.2,2005,editedbyHannesPalang,GaryFry,JussiS.Jauhiainen,MichaelJonesandHelenSooväli.13JosephDiMentoandPamelaDoughman(eds),ClimateChange:WhatitMeansforUs,OurChildren,andOurGrandchildren,MITPress,Cambridge,2007;Doyle2007;KerstyHobson,‘ReasonstobeCheerful:


ThinkingSustainablyina(Climate)ChangingWorld’,GeographyCompass,vol.2,no.1,2008,pp.199–214.14RachelSlocum,‘PolarBearsandEnergy‐efficientLightbulbs:StrategiestoBringClimateChangeHome’,EnvironmentandPlanningD:SocietyandSpace,vol.22,no.3,2004,pp.413–38;IreneLorenzoni,SophieNicholson‐ColeandLorraineWhitmarsh,‘BarriersPerceivedtoEngagingwithClimateChangeamongtheUKPublicandtheirPolicyImplications’,GlobalEnvironmentalChange,vol.17,nos3–4,2007,pp.445–59;LorenzoniandPidgeon,p.87;Hulme,p.8.15RussellHitchings,‘GeographiesofEmbodiedOutdoorExperienceandtheArrivalofthePatioHeater’,Area,vol.39,no.3,2007,pp.340–8;RussellHitchingsandShu‐JunLee,‘AirConditioningandtheMaterialCultureofRoutineHumanEncasement’,Journal of Material Culture,vol.13,no.3,2008,pp.251–65.16SeeHobson.17LesleyHead,‘CulturalEcology:Adaptation—RetrofittingaConcept?’,ProgressinHumanGeography,publishedon6July2009asdoi:10.1177/0309132509338978.18SarahStraussandBenjaminOrlove,‘UpintheAir:TheAnthropologyofWeatherandClimate’,inSarahStraussandBenjaminOrlove(eds),Weather,Climate,Culture,Oxford,Berg,2003,p.6.SeealsoBenjaminOrlove,EllenWiegandtandBrianH.Luckman(eds),DarkeningPeaks:GlacierRetreat,ScienceandSociety,UniversityofCaliforniaPress,Berkeley,2008.19TimSherratt,TomGriffithsandLibbyRobin(eds),AChangeintheWeather:ClimateandCultureinAustralia,NationalMuseumofAustraliaPress,Canberra,2005.20TimSherratt,‘HumanElements’,inSherrattetal.,p.9;NevilleNichols,‘ClimateandCultureConnectionsinAustralia’,AustralianMeteorologicalMagazine,vol.54,no.4,2005,pp.309–19;DebAnderson,‘Drought,Enduranceand“theWayThingsWere”:TheLivedExperienceofClimateandClimateChangeintheMallee’,AustralianHumanitiesReview,issue45,2008,pp.67–81.21 SeealsoAnthonyLeiserowitz,‘ClimateChangeRiskPerceptionandPolicyPreferences:TheRoleofAffect,Imagery,andValues’,ClimaticChange,vol.77,no.1,pp.45–72.22HannesPalang,GaryFry,JussiS.Jauhiainen,MichaelJonesandHelenSooväli,‘LandscapeandSeasonality—SeasonalLandscapes’,LandscapeResearch,vol.30,no.2,2005,pp.165–72;KennethOlwig,‘Liminality,SeasonalityandLandscape’,LandscapeResearch,vol.30,no.2,2005,pp.259‐271;TimIngold,‘RethinkingtheAnimate,Re‐animatingThought’,Ethnos,vol.71,no.1,2006,pp.9–20.23IneasternAustraliathiswillbeexperiencedthroughchangesintheElNiño‐SouthernOscillation,acrucialpredictorofrainfallvariabilityanddrought.24Iamgratefultooneofmyreviewersforofferingthisinsight.25Forexample,GaryYohe,‘TowardanIntegratedFrameworkDerivedfromaRisk‐managementApproachtoClimateChange’,ClimaticChange,vol.95,nos3–4,2009,pp.325–39;LorenzoniandPidgeon.SeealsoLeiserowitz,pp.46–7.26Thisincludesthefollowingeditedcollections:aspecialissueofSocialandCulturalGeography,‘EmbodyingEmotion,SensingSpace’,vol.5,no.4,2004,editedbyJoyceDavidsonandChristineMilligan;JoyceDavidson,LizBondiandMickSmith(eds),EmotionalGeographies,Ashgate,Aldershot,2005;MickSmith,JoyceDavidson,LauraCameronandLizBondi(eds),Emotion,PlaceandCulture,Ashgate,Aldershot,2009.27 JoyceDavidsonandChristineMulligan,‘EmbodyingEmotionSensingSpace:IntroducingEmotionalGeographies’,SocialandCulturalGeography,vol.5,no.4,2004,p.524;seealsoLizBondi,JoyceDavidsonandMickSmith,‘Introduction:Geography’s“EmotionalTurn”’,inJoyceDavidson,LizBondiandMickSmith(eds),EmotionalGeographies,Ashgate,Aldershot,2005,pp.1–16;MickSmith,JoyceDavison,LauraCameronandLizBondi,‘GeographyandEmotion—EmergingConstellations’,inMickSmith,JoyceDavidson,LauraCameronandLizBondi(eds),Emotion,PlaceandCulture,Ashgate,Aldershot,2009,pp.1–18.


28 Otherapproachesincludefeminist,psychoanalyticandnon‐representationalgeographies(Smith,Davidson,CameronandBondi,pp.10–13).Non‐representationaltheoryfocuseson‘affect’,whichisalsofavouredinwiderculturalscholarship.Itisimportanttonote,however,that‘affect’anditsattendanttheoriescompriseonlyoneofseveralstrandsofemotionalgeographies,andinthispaperIfocuson‘emotions’ratherthan‘affect’.Indeed,withingeographyandanthropologythereisanemergingdivisionbetweentheperspectivesof‘emotion’and‘affect’.Inthesedebates,emotionsareunderstoodassociallyrelationalandaccessedthroughreflection,whileaffectsareineffable,fleetingandnotnecessarilycapturedthroughlanguage.Sincemuchofmydata—suchassurveyandfocusgroupmaterial—providesspokenandwrittenreflectionsonpersonalengagementswithsnow,Iamarguablydealingwithemotionsratherthanaffect.Formoreontheseongoingdebates,seeDeborahThien,‘AfterorBeyondFeeling?AConsiderationofAffectandEmotioninGeography’,Area,vol.37,no.4,2005,pp.450–4;DivyaTolia‐Kelly,‘Affect—AnEthnocentricEncounter?Exploringthe‘Universalist’ImperativeofEmotional/Affectualgeographies’,Area,vol.38,no.2,pp.213–17;AndrewBeatty,‘EmotionsintheField:WhatareweTalkingAbout?’,JournaloftheRoyalAnthropologicalInstitute,vol.11,no.1,pp.17–37;RichardC.Powell,‘LearningfromSpacesofPlay:RecordingEmotionalPracticesinHighArcticEnvironmentalSciences’,inMickSmith,JoyceDavidson,LauraCameronandLizBondi(eds),Emotion,PlaceandCulture,Ashgate,Aldershot,2009,pp.115–32;Smith,Davidson,CameronandBondi,pp.12–13.29Smith,Davidson,CameronandBondi,pp.10–11.30<www.weatherzone.com.au,www.envirotalk.com.au>,<au.groups.yahoo.com/group/ClimateChangeAction>.31AndrewGorman‐Murray,‘BeforeandAfterClimateChange:TheSnowCountryinAustralianImaginaries’,M/CJournal,vol.11,no.5,<http://journal.media‐culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/viewArticle/65>.ThearchivalmaterialincludesD.G.Moye,HistoricKiandra:AGuidetotheHistoryoftheDistrict,Cooma–MonaroHistoricalSociety,Cooma,1959;KlausHueneke,KiandratoKosciusko,TabletopPress,Canberra,1987;LauraNeal,ItDoesn'tSnowLikeitUsedto:MemoriesofMonaroandtheSnowyMountains,Stateprint,Ultimo,1988;JohnMerritt,CurrangoSummers:ASnowBeltPastoralProperty1851–1946,TurallaPress,Bungendore,2003;NormanClarke,Kiandra—GoldFieldstoSkiFields,Cremorne1.comSelfPublishing,Sydney,2006;HughCapel,KiandraHistoricalSociety,<www.kiandrahistory.net>.32AustralianAlpsLiaisonCommittee,ExploretheAustralianAlps:TouringGuidetotheAustralianAlpsNationalParks,NewHollandPublishers,Sydney,p.16.33Eventhesecitiesareparalleledwithrural‘wildscapes’(Bell2006)—Hobart,capitalofthe‘naturalstate’,Canberra,Australia’s‘bushcapital’.34AndrewGorman‐Murray,KateDarian‐SmithandChrisGibson,‘ScalingtheRural:ReflectionsonRuralCulturalStudies’,AustralianHumanitiesReview,issue45,pp.37–52.35DavidBell,‘VariationsontheRuralIdyll’,inPaulCloke,TerryMarsdenandPatrickMooney(eds),HandbookofRuralStudies,Sage,London,2006,pp.149–160.36Pseudonymsareusedthroughout.37Hennessy,p.39.38FionaPolack,‘PlaceandSpace:ViewsfromaTasmanianMountain’,inRuthBarcanandIanBuchanan(eds),ImaginingAustralianSpace:CulturalStudiesandSpatialInquiry,UWAPress,Nedlands,1999,pp.145–57.39KirstinDowandThomasDowning,TheAtlasofClimateChange,UniversityofCaliforniaPress,Berkeley,2007,p.66.40Hobson,pp.204,208–9.41LorenzoniandPidgeon,p.89.42Ibid.


43EmilyBrady,‘AestheticinPractice:ValuingtheNaturalWorld’,EnvironmentalValues,vol.15,no.3,2006,pp.277–91;JenniferFoster,‘EnvironmentalAesthetics,EcologicalActionandSocialJustice’,inMickSmith,JoyceDavidson,LauraCameronandLizBondi(eds),Emotion,PlaceandCulture,Ashgate,Aldershot,2009,pp.97–114.44DavidCarter,KateDarian‐SmithandAndrewGorman‐Murray,‘RuralCulturalStudies:Introduction’,AustralianHumanitiesReview,i45,2008,pp.27–36.

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