The second blog in the blog series about previously popular media subjects that continue to affect our world today.
Like I’ve said before on this blog, I had the opportunity to *shortly* study abroad this semester and before I arrived in Brisbane to start off one of the best trips of my life, I could not get away from the posts about the intense fire season that seemed to be never-ending.
By February, people seemed to be more distracted by the then potential threat of Coronavirus than the continuing fires, so when I left to go to Australia on January 30th, I thought that they were done. But this definitely was not the case. New South Wales, one of the six states, was one of the hardest-hit states in the country. NSW is home to almost a third of all Australians and this bushfire season caused 25 people to lose their lives and 6% of the land, over 13 million acres, were put in flames. The fires started in September and the last fire did not end until March 2, making the Rural Fire Service of NSW announce it to be the worst fire season in history. And as most of us know, it’s only going to get worse from here on out. But maybe we can learn from this past fire season to prevent what we hope is not inevitable.
This most recent fire season was in the midst of the hottest and driest summer season in Australia. Many Australians honor themselves by stating that their country barely contributes to climate change, contributing to only 1.3% of global emissions. But what many do not know is that Australia only accounts for .3% of the global population and Australia being of the largest coal exporters, accounts for approximately 4% of global emissions according to a study completed by Beyond Zero Emissions in 2012. Looking at the data in collaboration with other statistics such as the global population and global exports creates a better picture for how much a country actually contributes to global emissions.
One of my assignments in my study abroad program was to interview my homestay mom about how the fires impacted her. Through that interview, I learned that even people that weren’t directly affected by the fires were still scared that they weren’t going to be able to protect their family. On social media, we are able to post articles and memes that show our support for a cause, but I wasn’t able to fully understand the threat until I talked to someone affected first hand.
These bushfires will definitely not be the last of its kind, but I hope that the damage seen and the knowledge learned through and after this cycle helps push for more mitigation and adaptation policies in the future.
Written by Dominique Agnew, Senior at Cornell University and Climate Justice Now Intern
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