Bushfires a warning of climate change disasters to come

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Bushfires a warning of climate change disasters to come

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OPINION: As 2020 rolls around, the Australian wildfires herald the start of a new decade. New Year's Day, although I didn't know it at the time, was tinted with this reminder as my friends and I watched clouds of smoke curl into the valley of Le Bons Bay, Canterbury. We didn't actually know what it was - some of us suspected a fire further up the hill. I don't think any of us really thought it could be smoke from all the way over the ditch until we got back into cellphone range and realised this was true. The wildfires have devastated 6.3 million hectares, an area of land similar to the size of the entire island of Ireland. It has taken the lives of 28 people , directly impacted 480 million animals , and forced the evacuations of thousands from their homes. We, the richer, "more developed" part of the world, thought we were untouchable by the effects of climate change. The impacts of the western world's intensive carbon emitting were always thought to be felt the most in countries far away from us - like Bangladesh or the Pacific Islands - who contribute the least to global carbon emissions. I'll admit that even I thought I was perfectly safe in my nice Christchurch home in little New Zealand. These horrific bushfires have changed that. They have shown climate change does not discriminate. This decade, climate change will touch everyone personally. READ MORE: * Young Leaders: 'Climate change is already happening, it's not a futuristic dystopia' * What it's like to help organise a major climate protest - aged 17 * Climate change has dashed my dreams of motherhood * Why Australia can't burn its way out: Hazard reduction burns undercut by weather, costs The first stage of grief is denial, and many have grabbed on to the idea that these fires weren't caused by the rapidly changing climate, but rather arsonists and bush-burning. Fake figures claiming that 183 people accused of intentionally starting bushfires had been arrested have been spread across the internet and are giving denialists that single thread in a curtain of facts to cling on to. However, Victoria police have responded that there is no evidence that the bushfires were caused by arson. Funny that. Mother Earth has thrown us a curve ball, and now it's on us as to how we respond. I was really hoping we'd see some leadership, setting the bar high as to how we react to climate-induced crises and how we will curb our emissions from now on. I was (unsurprisingly) furious with Scott Morrison's response; watch the cricket, forget the death toll and dawdle around supplying volunteer firefighters with more supplies . Furthermore, members of Australia's Parliament are refusing to acknowledge the role climate change has played in drying the bush and triggering prolonged droughts, all of which provided the perfect storm for this catastrophe. Morrison has set the lowest, most disgraceful bar when it comes to acting on climate change. Now I can only pray that it's not going to be a game of limbo with other world leaders. In a way, this fire is like the smoke I saw in Le Bons Bay. It's a warning of what is to come. If we ever needed a sign or a warning or a trigger, let this be it. Instead of 2020 being the year we burn, let it be the start of the decade the world chooses to act. Especially those in the western world, who have for far too long been reaping the benefits of high rates of emissions while letting impoverished, often historically colonised countries feel the blows. What we have is not good enough. It is our responsibility to turn this around. I want to tell future generations about how we - the world - saw the fires, and they were the last disaster we let happen. I want to tell them that we realised the damage we had done and gone about reducing its impacts and bringing them the world they live in now. I want them to be happy and healthy in their world. I do not want to tell them that the world saw the smoke and did nothing to put out the fire. Mia Sutherland is an organiser of School Strike 4 Climate NZ .