Extreme weather is coming for us, Australia is just the beginning

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2020 is off to a turbulent start

From WWIII trending across social media to the Australian bush fires, the new decade is off to a difficult and somewhat worrying start. We all knew this new year would make us face some deeply-rooted issues in humanity – our inability to live in peace despite our differences, our continuous denial of human-made climate change and the destruction of the planet, and the rise of extremism.

But for many of us, seeing the Australian bushland on fire – red, orange and white with heat, with koalas, cows, birds and kangaroos' burnt carcases by the millions has sent deep and terrifying signals.

As the year begins with these catastrophic global events, they are yet another reminder that the times of being idle are done if we want to see real change. This year will be the start to a decade of change; a decade of action and conscious decisions, consumption and being.

Welcome back to FairPlanet's weekly roundup. And don't forget to always Read, Debate: Engage.

The good

Millions of dollars donated to help Australia recover

From the destructive fires that have taken over large parts of the continents over the past month. In just a number of weeks, numerous high profile celebrities have publically verbalised their devastation and with that raised millions in donations. The musician Pink donated $500 thousand alone, while Australian comedian Celeste Barber raised $26 million in under a week.

The blazing fires sweeping across Australia have since September taken the lives of an estimated 25 people, destroyed some 2,000 homes, and killed millions of animals. Some experts fear that the native wildlife may never recover from the disaster. While it is heartwarming to see the response the world has had to the fires and the amounts of money raised to help the nation recover from this as well as support fire services throughout these trying times, these fires are just another reminder that we are not doing enough to prevent an imminent climate crisis from coming our way.

The bad

Australian leaders are not doing enough (or even a little)

Despite the unfathomable natural, humanitarian and wildlife disaster that the country is currently experiencing and has been since September of last year, it seems as though some aspects of Australia's careless attitude toward the climate continued as usual.

As outlined in our recent FairPlanet coverage, Sydney's mayor Clover Moore continued with the usual fireworks show over the city to celebrate the new year, all while 6 hectares of the country were previously or at the time on fire. While this may seem like simply a way to keep morale high and continue to celebrate the new year, despite the challenges, Australia "alongside the United States of America and Brazil was, in fact, one of three countries that let the whole world down during the recent climate summit COP25 in Madrid by blocking programmes to help defray the costs of climate losses of poorer countries."

It's clear that there is no escaping the wrath of a changing climate, and that ignoring the facts will in no way protect any country from the consequences of our reckless destruction of the planet.

Global Climate Crisis(es)

	A green wall for Africa by Bob Koigi With the unprecedented migration of Africans to Europe in search of better days, proliferation of armed groups that are fanning terrorism and changes in weather that have now affected tens of millions of livelihoods across the continent, Africa is betting on a mega green wall to address these biting changes, and the international community has been warming up to the idea. Read

	Climate breakdown, decision-makers, we need you to wake up, to rise up! by Mara Dolan Women and non-binary folks are among the first to be affected by the climate crisis. True climate justice would involve rectifying centuries of gender-bias. Read

	Climate change in the Arctic by Ama Lorenz Climate change in the Arctic is something that should be worrying every person on earth at the moment, even if they live in warm climates far from any ice and snow. Read

	What Are Human Causes Of Climate Change? by Murat Suner We are experiencing long shifts of climatic conditions that are characterised by a change in temperature, rainfall, winds, and other indicators. Read

	Why is fighting climate change in Cameroon so difficult? by Israel Bionyi Cameroon’s climate change efforts is suffering from three important crises which almost completely tilted the attention of Cameroonian leaders and other NGOs towards them. Since 2012, the government have been concentrating a great portion of their time and resources to fight Boko Haram, Floods and corruption. Read

Climate Change In Depth

Climate Change

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