The thrum of a helicopter filled the air over Fitzroy Crossing. Only a few streets in the town remained above water.  "A lot of people are climbing up on roofs because they've left it too long or didn't realise the extent of the floods. People have abandoned their belongings and homes," said local nurse Jane Grayson.

Floods are not uncommon in the Kimberley, an area of Western Australia three times the size of England. But the scale of these ones has left its inhabitants flabbergastedTo be greatly surprised or astonished. It was first used in the 18th Century, but no-one knows where it originated..

Over 48 hours last week, they experienced 16 inches of rain. In some areas, the overflowing waters of the Fitzroy River stretched for 30 miles.

Around half the inhabitants of the Kimberley are AboriginalIndigenous or existing in a land before the arrival of colonisers. . Efforts to help them were hampered by the fact that some had never seen a helicopter and were reluctant to board one.

Australia has become increasingly proneLikely to do or be affected by something. to severe floods. Albert Albanese, who became prime minister eight months ago, has no doubt that climate change is a major factor. Within a month of coming to power, he committed Australia to reducing its carbon emissions drastically.

His election was an indication of how seriously Australians are now taking the problem. Under his predecessor Scott Morrison, Australia was placed 56^th out of 59 countries in the Climate Change Performance Index.¹

But campaigners worry that the world as a whole is turning a blind eye to the crisis. A paper² signed by 14,000 scientists in 2021 warned that without immediate action to tackle global warming, humanity faced "untold suffering". Yet the Australian floods have received minimal attention compared to Prince Harry's memoirs.

One reason, says psychologist Paul Slovic, is that we are reluctant to face problems unless we are immediately at risk: "The question is often, 'Do I feel vulnerableat risk of being harmed?' For the most part we don't, and that shapes our behaviour." People also dislike making sacrifices if the benefits seem a long way off.

Then there is "the inefficacyFailing to do what it is supposed to. factor": the idea that, with a problem as enormous as climate change, individuals feel powerless. "We can curtailStop or reduce. things we want to do, like driving or flying," said Slovic, "but if other people aren't going to do it, it's not going to make any difference."

Yes: Thinking about serious subjects requires a considerable mental effort; gossip is much easier to engage with. Newspapers with a lot of gossip have far more readers than serious ones.

No: Gossip can offer a pleasant distraction, but if the news is about something that immediately affects us - as the floods area affecting the people of Western Australia - we will read that instead.  

Or... We need a mixture of both. News satisfies our need for information, and gossip satisfies our human curiosity. Even the most serious people enjoy a bit of gossip - politicians are often full of it.