Australia's "Black Summer" Began To Wind Down 1 Year Ago; Zero Government Action On Climate. Zero.

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February marks one year since Australia’s catastrophic wildfire season started to ease, after leaving 34 people dead and torching at least 18 million hectares of land (nearly 44.5 million acres). It was, in the words of one state premier, “the most devastating natural disaster in living memory.”

For Egan, it has been a year not only of recovery, but also of action. He spreads the word on “climate solutions and the benefits therein” around small, regional communities and was part of a delegation of survivors that took the remnants of their charred homes to Australia’s Parliament House, urging politicians to do more. “It [the Australian government] is doing as little as possible, as little as they can get away with,” Egan said. “I feel ashamed of our country as it’s allowed some sort of short-term cynical politics to prevent proper climate action.”

Despite a chorus of scientists saying climate change is contributing to longer and more intense wildfire seasons, Prime Minister Scott Morrison refused to introduce any major climate measures after the disaster. Mass protests were held across the country calling for tougher climate action, but Morrison remained unmoved. Morrison leads a conservative coalition government, which has been in power since 2013. His government’s track record on climate includes repealing the country’s carbon tax and Morrison famously bringing a lump of coal into Parliament, saying, “Don’t be scared, it won’t hurt you.” The prime minister’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

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Patrick Norman, an ecologist at Griffith University and a researcher with the Bushfire Recovery Project, said most Australian forests have adaptations in order to survive fire. “[Many forests] are recovering how they should, and are responding particularly well after a La Niña year, which has been excellent. Most of the areas impacted had a good, high amount of rainfall in 2020.” But he said some subalpine areas in New South Wales and Victoria, along with wetter forests in northern New South Wales were not recovering as well due to the especially brutal fire conditions. “They [the fires] were just an enormous event,” Norman said. “It’s definitely scary looking into the future, at a further warming climate. We’re only just starting to see the impacts now.”

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https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/one-year-australia-s-devastating-wildfires-anger-grows-climate-change-n1256714

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