Australian Bushfire: A reflection - Sonam Rinchen

Even though climate change has been affecting the Earth in many ways till now, humans have not yet realized how much harm it has caused the planet. Now we learn it the hard way. Since September 2019, around 24 million acres of land in Australia has been burned. That’s an area larger than a regular country. According to vox.com the fires have now killed around 28 people and destroyed about 2,000 homes. It has caused one of the biggest air pollution in the world with the air in Sydney turned orange and breathing the air seemingly as bad as smoking ten cigarettes. The destruction caused to the wildlife and biodiversity is even huge with an estimation of around 1 billion animals dead. Scientists fear that long-term damage can also be caused to the ecosystem. The increasing severity of the fire is caused by global warming and the blaze itself could increase global warming. According to the European Union’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, 400 megatons of carbon dioxide has been released into the air. What was the main cause of the fire? Climate Change. With continuous increase in carbon dioxide emission, it results in warming and drying of the land, which causes wildfire like this. Currently, burning coal has proven to have released more carbon in the air than anything else in Australia and many other countries around the world. We have worked only to achieve one goal, MONEY! But money alone does not guarantee balanced development. So, it’s time to work towards reducing carbon emissions and make this planet safer for future generations. Let us all be warned that if such disasters are not occuring in your country, it will soon - if we don’t take actions. In the meantime, let us all pray and hope that Australia will regenerate to its former glory, filled with biodiversity - thousands of different species of animals and plants. I urge everyone all around the world to help Australia revive, either by cash or any other ways.