Dear Editor
I despair of the continued misunderstanding of the link between current catastrophic bushfires and climate change. Very simply, global warming has occurred since industrialisation. Warming has caused changes to natural climate and weather patterns. Climate change in Australia means longer, hotter, drier summers. Bushfires are started by arsonists, lightning, accidents, power tools and spontaneous combustion. BUT now, they burn hotter, longer and faster because of climate change.
Budget/staff cuts to the NPWS (NSW National Parks) and fire services, and ignorance of Aboriginal land management practices, contribute to an inability to prepare for and fight these mega fires effectively.
Committing to an emissions free society will not extinguish these bushfires, but it WILL create a future where mega fires killing thousands of living species (including humans) and destroying communities, will not become a future normal.
Whether Indigenous, Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, pagan or atheist, we are custodians of our unique and precious land. I believe Jesus would have said: ‘Get off your a**e and act for the good of humanity – there lies your God!’ Let’s all work together to make the change that is necessary, whether we like it or not. Let’s be brave!
Tracy