By Cole Tomlin, Staff Writer
Deadly smoke fills the air, people are suffocating, animals are burning to death and the climate temperature has risen so much that the land is on fire; welcome to Australia.
The bushfires in Australia are concentrated along the southeast coast in the states of South Wales and Victoria, but the fires have hit every territory and state in the country. More than 12 million acres of land have been burned, 26 people have died and over 30% of the Koala population have been wiped out.
However, senior Willam Harrison was on a two week trip in Australia over Christmas break– and didn’t seem to have any problems.
“It wasn’t that bad when I was there, but it’s getting pretty bad,” Harrison said.
William admitted he didn’t even know how bad the fires were until he got back to his hotel room one night.
“The smoke just went away, and then next thing you know I get back to where we were staying, and it’s on Instagram story after Instagram story, ‘Pray for Australia, donate now,’” Harrison said. “I’m was just like ‘What the heck am I going to do?’”
Luckily, none of the vacation spots that Harrison went to were too close to the fires, but the air quality in Sydney during December was 11 times higher than the hazardous level. There was even one account of an elderly lady dying moments after stepping out of her plane due to the terrible air quality.
Furthermore, these fires are believed to be a direct effect of global warming. Scientists from Sydney University are estimating that the fires are not going to be any better in the future, as long as the climate keeps getting warmer and drier.
However, unlike some other climate change indicators, people are not turning their heads from this issue. Multiple organizations and celebrities have donated millions and millions of dollars to Australia, including Leonardo Dicaprio’s Earth Alliance, Celeste Barber, Red Cross, Facebook, Paul Ramsay, Chris Hemsworth, Elton John and Metallica.
Multiple protests have been taking place in Sydney, due to the Prime Minister defending coal mining for Australia’s economy. However, the biggest donation so far has been from Australian mining billionaire Andrew Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation, with 48 million dollars. Yet, this hasn’t seemed to have much effect on the Australian’s view about coal mining in their country – while it is literally on fire.
The simple fact is that the global climate is rising, and these fires are going to continue to get worse and worse all around the world if something is not done, right now. This has left world leaders everywhere with a question of what is more important, the environment or the economy.
So, while the leaders decide what they are going to do, people in countries such as Australia will continue to fight for environmental justice.
Now, you might think that Australia has their hands full with these blazing fires. According to Harrison, they are still welcoming to visitors and are very kind to all their guests.
“You know, it was an all around great experience. I’ll never forget it. Great people,” Harrison said.
Junior Cole Tomlin can be reached at [email protected].
