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And might the bell toll--for thee? The fourth article in a series by Nonie Sharp on place, environment and their defence.

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It's 26 December 2004; the earth has begun to tremble. Nature, it turns out, is re-writing a story. Thick blue seismic lines appear on faraway monitoring stations. Above the moving plates the ocean changes from green to dark black. Masses of foam rise as seismic waves, or tsunamis, tower above waters near the shore. Men and women bang on doors, shouting instructions: 'Run for the hills!' These are the only warning systems in the tsunami areas.

Suddenly we are all face-to-face with indescribable scenes of devastation. It is as though a glass has shattered. A million 'matchsticks' lie lifeless, a house or two left standing in Banda Aceh--memories of what was. Flattened dwellings of fisherfolk stretch for miles; giant trees lie alongside trucks hurled along by raging waters. Scenes from The Day After Tomorrow arriving today without the hand of human irresponsibility and mismanagement.

In the weeks following, a sense of nature's force stops people in their well-worn tracks of habitual thinking. The power of nature cannot be disregarded; nor can the gathering informed opinion. The Age editorial of 7 January catches that truth in its title: 'Climate Change Rhetoric Edges Closer to Reality'. In facing the shocking reality of the first two weeks, the editorial joins with the latest world report: climate change is an urgent threat. Is the cataclysm on the coasts of Asia a stern reminder of nature's fragility as well as its power?

A context is the coming into effect of the Kyoto agreement on 16 February this year without Australia, the world's largest per capita producer of greenhouse gas emissions. Fortunately, it seems the new Environment Minister has, since towards the end of 2004, recognised the opportunities becoming available for Australia to contribute to greenhouse gas reduction. He knows, as we all do, that a low-emission economy must come. Even optimistic scientists acknowledge that doing nothing is not an option. Is the Minister inching away from the fossil fuel-based energy package his government sanctioned so irresponsibly last July? As the Age asks: why stay outside Kyoto?

We are on the alert now after the strongest earth tremble of our times. Is the earth delicate as well as resilient? Have our own 'early warning' antennae been stirred by an unspeakable disaster among people who cling to the coasts for their sustenance, a catastrophe without human cause? A disaster so terrible it may only inadequately be expressed in words. Earthquakes and the seismic waves that follow them...

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