Australia's bushfires continue to blaze and their devastating impact on the climate is perhaps best measured through the latest warning from NASA and following the collapse of a tennis player on the court after she struggled to breathe during the match.
Dalila Jakupovic, a 28-year-old from Slovenia struggled to breathe during her first-round qualifying match at Australia Open and retired after falling to the court in discomfort. Melbourne was reportedly the most polluted city on 14th January, Tuesday when the match was being hosted with air quality being deemed “hazardous”. Other Australian cities included Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, and Adelaide which have also endured dangerous air quality levels due to smoke from nearby bushfires.
In the meantime, on the same day, NASA issued a warning that smoke from the massive bushfires in Australia will soon circle the Earth and come back to the nation. According to them, the plumes from blazes around New Year's Day had crossed South America, turning skies there hazy, and moved "halfway around Earth" by 8 January.
Right now, the world has warmed around 1C since the 1850s. Even with current government plans to limit emissions of CO2, the world is on course for around 3C of warming by the end of this century. Australia is now about 1.4C warmer than the global average temperature was in the pre-industrial period, showing a more rapid rate of heating than the global average of 1.1C.
Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, has acknowledged that climate change has had an influence on the fires and has defended his government’s climate record. Under the Paris climate agreement, Australia has pledged to cut emissions by 26% to 28% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels. However, these bushfires coupled with the climate activists have further pressurised capitalists economies to draw a realistic and effective blueprint to combat the on-going climate crisis.
