As I write this, I am very sad. It terrifies me to see what is currently going on in Australia and it doesn't seem like there is any near end in sight to the cataclysm that is ravaging through this otherwise beautiful country.
I have a colleague living in Canberra who is a terrific person. A knowledgeable, witty and (too) frequently jovial individual with a great mind and a traveler spirit. A kind of person you can rarely be bored with. I can't possibly imagine how hard his life currently is. And I remember how genuinely fascinated he was last year when he came to Europe in February and have seen snow for the first time in his life... Something that most Europeans simply take (at least took) for granted.
I want to make it clear that I make a direct connection between anthropogenic global warming and the recent bushfires. Extreme temperatures have always given a way to extreme atmospheric conditions. And I have always been taught that fire needs three components - fuel, air and temperature.
Even if you do not accept (a scientifically accepted) view that human industry causes global warming, there is no logical way to deny that elevated temperatures and dry land is a recipe for a disaster. I think that anthropogenic climate change denialists has formed their worldview out of a very simple factor - fear. Why?
Because it is always very uncomfortable to admit that you are the root of a problem. And from that, comes another important point - being the root of the problem, you are also able to make an effort to solve the problem. But it is a looong and hard work, so you are not in a rush to accept the truth.
On the other hand, if you accept something as being out of your human control, you can just sit back and enjoy the orange skies Down Under, explaining it as something that happens on itself.
I am just as appaled by the inaction of the biggest governments of the world that have wasted untold years and achieved practically no consensus on how the world should fight the climate change problem. It got even harder in the recent years with quite-recent withdrawals from the Paris Accord. I am simply enraged at a thought that all it takes in our stupid World, is just one denialist loon determined to derail every single attempt that eco-minded countries and citizens make at trying to alleviate the problem.