Smoke-filled air, children being kept from school or needing oxygen machines to combat respiratory issues triggered by polluted air. This seems like a scenario far from suburban Sydney, Australia. Despite being a wealthy country, we are still facing the same issues as our Asian neighbours in Dehli. Luckily for us, we can rely on our Prime Minister to support us and change our imminent lacklustre future, oh wait.. no we can’t he’s too busy holidaying in Hawaii.

Despite our sunny beaches, relaxed and privileged lifestyles, abundance of natural resources, substantially lower population and motorised vehicle usage we too are experiencing the full effects of climate change, as are many other countries around the world. From the burning Amazon rainforest, the thick dense smog surrounding Mumbai, or the rising water levels threatening cities and countries like Venice, Tuvalu and Vietnam. The only difference between Australia and the countries listed is that we are more equipped to deal with the effects of climate change, or are we?

Our forests are burning throughout three states at this current moment, despite the countless hours, days, weeks that firefighters have been heroically battling the tenacious beast. At this current moment more than 5 million hectares of land has been burnt which is horrific in comparison to the 900 hectares in the Amazon fires. And yet some people still believe that there is no connection between the fires and climate change. It’s really a culmination of the temperature, precipitation levels (rain) and how moist the soil remains. Higher spring and summer temperatures cause the ground to be extremely dry and these hot, dry conditions increase the likelihood that wildfires will be more intense and burn for longer once they are started by lightning strikes or arsonists.

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The Australian government is prohibiting further finances to go towards the firefighters working on no sleep, many of them volunteers, in an act of sheer negligence and denial. A similar stance that they have taken when it came to signing the Paris Agreement, with Australia still falling in the insufficient category to meet the requirements to hold the 2030 target of keeping the Earth’s temperature below 2 degrees. We are so far short from reducing our emission target that our emissions are actually projected to rise to 555 MtCO2e by 2020 and 565 MtCO2e by 2030, so essentially a rise of 35% in comparison to 1990 levels (Climate Action Tracker, 2019).

We are being sold lies of the federal government saying they are on track to meet the 2030 goals set out, whilst hiding the fact that our emissions have been increasing since 2014 by at least 1% on average per year (Department of the Environment and Energy 2019). Under this glossy mask of hope that has been plastered over the populations eyes, the government could scramble together the deal to approve of the Adani mine in Queensland and what could prove to be the world's biggest coal mine.

The Adani mine is located in the Galilee Basin, one of the world's largest untouched coal reserves, it’s the first mine ever built there, and took over a year to gain approval due to a lag caused by environmental parties who weren’t satisfied with the construction of the mine and the possibility of Doongmabulla Springs Complex, one of the world's last unspoiled desert oases being destroyed (ABC, 2019). The mine is expected to generate $16.8 billion in taxes and royalties and provide 1500 jobs, but it comes at the cost of destroying Indigenous Australian ancestral lands, culture and waters without permission, damage the Great Artesian Basin’s aquifers, increase coal ships travelling via the Great Barrier Reef by 500 more ships yearly, access 270 billion litres of Queensland’s groundwater for free and add carbon pollution to our atmosphere of total of 4.6 billion tonnes (Stop Adani, 2019).

If it is financial gain that the coalition are so desperate to achieve then this is not the solution. With burning forests comes the cost of properties, livelihoods and infrastructure that burns with it, totalling millions of dollars in insurance costs and rebuilding. Our emissions rates have also skyrocketed as a result of these fires, having burned through two thirds of our yearly allowance in the last few months alone. Rather than earning money via a third party international company, we could be investing in cleaner energy supplies using wind and solar energy that could save us millions that we are currently spending on burning coal for power supply. If you think about it, the centre of our entire country is barren, uninhabited and hot; it could without a doubt be used to power up whole cities.

New job availabilities aren’t even all that appealing when it comes at the cost of being exposed to air pollution, which kills approximately 3 million people each year around the world, 3000 of those being Australian (a figure more than double our annual road toll) (World Health Organization, 2016 and Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2007). In Australian the largest source of air pollution is the mining and burning of coal. On a more localised level coal workers and residents in coal communities are exposed to dust which fills the lungs, causes respiratory, heart, kidney and lung diseases (Lockwood AH, Welker-Hood K, Rauch M & Gottlieb B, 2009). The local population, according to the Guardian are rejoicing at the influx of new residents and interest brought to their town, but if it was me I’d take the clean air over some fresh faces any day.

I am an optimist, I know deep down that we will resurface, become stronger and find solutions because as humans we are innovative. I once heard that you should not keep discussing negative events without coming forth with a proposition of your own. It is in this grave moment in time in Australia that things seem so grim, the fire and stream of bad news seem never ending and the immediate solution is one we don’t want to keep taking; as it involves relying on those brave, courageous firefighters and serviceman helping communities get out of danger. They are the real heroes, putting themselves second for the greater good and survival of our citizens. Unlike our government, or Prime Minister who could take a few notes on the leadership of Jacinda Ardern.

For most of us moving to New Zealand isn’t necessarily a feasible or possible option but electing future prime ministers who will put our future first is; not the economic future of a select rich few. We need to help make our leaders change, Scott Morrison is already coming around, with severe pressure that his leadership is coming to an end in the imminent future once it became apparent that he was entirely ill-equipped to deal with a crisis or the ability to shift his mindset when the evidence was staring him starkly in the face and he continued to harp on about Australia being on track to lowering our emissions; a sheer lie. Now we have finally had enough. Enough of the lies, enough of the mask being welded over our eyes and we need to protest, fight and push ahead for our survival. We previously were told we had 10 years to make a difference, but as these fires have proved the full effects of climate change is being felt now and if our leaders can’t see the right road ahead, then we can show them together.

At this current time it may feel as though you cannot assist those in need, however there are still plenty of options. Here is a full list of places to donate to or actions you can take.

Donations to the NSW Rural Fire Service directly benefit the volunteer firefighters on the frontline. To help you can contact your local brigade directly or donate here

To support the efforts of Victorian firefighters, you can donate to the state’s Country Fire Association here.

Sydney University have estimated more than 480 million animals have died in Australia since September, as a result of the bushfires. To help the NSW wildlife victims, you can donate to the NSW Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service (WIRES) here.

The Salvos have launched a disaster appeal to support the communities affected by the devastating bushfires. “Our teams are providing meals to evacuees and frontline responders, and will continue to provide whatever support is needed as the situation develops,” said Strategic Emergency and Disaster Management general manager, Major Topher Holland. To donate to the disaster appeal, you can call 13 SALVOS (13 72 58), donate at any Woolworths checkout, or donate online here.

Bendigo Bank have partnered with The Salvation Army to establish an appeal that will raise funds for fire affected communities including East Gippsland, Hume, southeast New South Wales and Adelaide Hills.

You can make a donation here.

Charities like Givit specialise in goods, where the exact items people need are listed via charities and the public can match that or register the items they have, in case someone has use for them. Givit is currently running two specific campaigns supporting NSW and Queensland bushfire victims.

Many celebrities like Sam Wood are hosting GoFundMe pages where they are contributing or matching figures with their own financial contributions. Just make sure you are donating to a legitimate source. Sam and Snezana’s page can be accessed here.

Article written by Veronika Makovey-Carafa

MOSS Magazine Editor