One-seventh of the state of Victoria is on fire. The fire front in the state of New South Wales is so long that, if you made it a straight line, it would stretch from Sydney to Afghanistan. The fires are being fought by volunteers.
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The Australian government refuses to discuss the fact that the NSW fires have now been burning for three months, and will still be burning in three months. Climate change is a “political issue” that shouldn’t be discussed at this time, apparently.
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Many of the volunteer firefighters are unemployed; their benefits have been suspended because, while they’re saving people and habitats and homes, they can’t apply for the requisite number of jobs per week the government expects them to to continue receiving benefits.
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The Australian Prime Minister, at the height of the crisis, went on holiday to Hawaii, which his office first denied and then insisted he was trying to get home, but it’s impossible to get flights from Honolulu to Sydney (???)
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The New South Wales emergency services minister has also gone on holidays. And in the midst of this, the prime minister has declared that the country should take heart from its brave and courageous...cricketers, who are playing against New Zealand.
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Also, while the entire country faced catastrophic fire warnings (so no barbecues, people!), the cities all had fireworks displays. One, in Adelaide, very unsurprisingly caused a (thankfully limited) brush fire. Millions were spent on these. But not to pay the firefighters.
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It is true that Australia has bushfires every year, but the sheer scale of this event is unprecedented, as well as the fact that the fire season is now so long that typical preventative initiatives, such as backburning, are far too dangerous.
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The devastation in Australia right now FAR exceeds the Amazon fires or the California fires by MANY ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE, and there is no expectation that it will recede for at least several more months. In parts of Sydney, breathing the air is equivalent to a pack of cigarettes.
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Public buildings have been forced to close in Sydney and the capital, Canberra, because the smoke is concentrating in the ventilation systems, and is setting off building fire systems.
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The average temperature across the entire country has been above 40C (105F). Australia is roughly the size of the contiguous United States. Imagine it being that temperature on average ANYWHERE in the country, from Denver to Boston, Seattle to New York.
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And that firefront? Imagine an unbroken line of fire, stretching from New York to Los Angeles, then back to New York, then heading back to Los Angeles and getting at least as far as Indiana. That’s the firefront in JUST ONE STATE.
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So, if you were wondering why I keep yelling that
@ScottMorrisonMP is a coward who must resign, this is why. He didn’t start this, no. But he is the prime minister who, in this moment of Armageddon, continues to insist that climate change is not worth talking about.Show this thread -
And it is HIS people who, learning that two people had been killed, quipped that it was okay because they “probably voted Green.” This man is a gormless quisling who fiddles (at resorts in Hawaii) while Australia burns, and he comes back to sing the praises of coal. Fuck him.
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A couple more points to add here:https://twitter.com/manwithoutatan/status/1212682920592314373?s=20 …
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Also this, concerning distances. I said that New Zealand is still a way away from Australia, yet is affected by the smoke. For non-Aussies or non-Kiwis, this might help you visualise it a little better:https://twitter.com/manwithoutatan/status/1212695471564763136?s=20 …
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I have to mute this thread for a while—there are just so many responses that I simply can't keep up! BUT some people asked what you can do to help. Please consider donating to the firefighters on the frontline;
@GuardianAus has some good info at this link.https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/dec/21/how-you-can-donate-and-help-the-volunteer-firefighters-in-australias-bushfire-crisis …Show this thread -
Donation options here!https://twitter.com/manwithoutatan/status/1213146674627055616?s=20 …
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End of conversation
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