*Ø* Perth will die, says top scientist

"Perth will become a ghost city within decades as rising global temperatures turn the Wheatbelt into a desert and drive species to the brink of extinction, a leading Australian scientist warns.

"Australian palaeontologist and popular author Tim Flannery said Perth was a city on the edge – isolated, dependent on energy and declining water supplies and more likely to feel the effects of global warming because of its geographical position.

"'You're going to suffer faster and harder than any other State in Australia,' Dr Flannery said yesterday.

"'My hypothesis is Perth will become a ghost metropolis over the next few decades unless governments acknowledge that global warming is a reality.'

"He said a global temperature rise of less than 1C last century had robbed the State of over half its annual rainfall run-off. Global temperature rises of up to 6C would transform Perth into an arid city unable to feed itself.

"A 1C rise was enough to wipe out an estimated two-thirds of WA's native flowering plants."
Source: The West Australian