Saving the Amazon must be on our to-do list - Gisele Bundchen

Gisele Bundchen - she wants us to consider
the dangers of climate change.

Until now, most people thought of the Olympics as a forum for athletic records, not temperature records. But the Rio organisers wove environmental themes into the celebration of sports, showing the dangers we face if we allow climate change to worsen. The message was clear: we may live in separate countries with unique languages, flags and medal counts, but we are all bound together by the limits of our natural world.

At no point was this more evident than when the stadium floor was covered in projected images of cities such as Lagos, Shanghai, Amsterdam and Rio being submerged by rising seas. On an otherwise joyful night, watching images of Rio, the "marvellous city", sink beneath the waves was a sobering moment I will not forget. Yes, Brazil, like the whole world, stands to lose a lot in a climate-altered world. But it's also one of the major forces determining our future: It's the home of most of the Amazon rainforest.

Read the comment in today’s Melbourne Age by Gisele Bundchen - “Saving the Amazon should be on everyone's to-do list.”