Fire chiefs demand urgent action on climate change as states burn

Retired fire chiefs are demanding action on the “urgent threat” of climate change as Australia contends with “a new age of unprecedented bushfire danger”.

Exhausted rural firefighters have been battling blazes at Hillville for almost a week. 

With no end in sight to the worst bushfire season, exhausted firefighters who are “dead on their feet” spent Wednesday night battling dozens of blazes across Queensland and NSW.

More towns and communities were urgently evacuated early Thursday as encroaching fires threatened homes at Black Snake near Gympie and Woodgate, a seaside town south of Bundaberg.

While Thursday is expected to bring a slight reprieve in the weather, crews are bracing for another onslaught of horrific fire conditions on Friday and into the weekend.

Read the story from The New Daily - “Fire chiefs demand urgent action on climate change as states burn.”

How a 7th Grader’s Strike Against Climate Change Exploded Into a Movement

Every week since December, the seventh-grader has made a pilgrimage to the United Nations’ headquarters demanding action on climate change. She is one of a cadre of young, fierce and mostly female activists behind the School Strike 4 Climate movement. On March 15, with the support of some of the world’s biggest environmental groups, tens of thousands of kids in at least two dozen countries and nearly 30 U.S. states plan to skip school to protest.

Alexandria Villasenor, 13, skips school to strike in front of
the United Nations, with signs reading: “School Strike 4
 Climate” and “Cop24 Failed Us. 

On the ninth Friday of her strike, 13-year-old Alexandria Villasenor wakes to a dozen emails, scores of Twitter notifications and good news from the other side of the planet: Students in China want to join her movement.

Their demands are uncompromising: Nations must commit to cutting fossil-fuel emissions in half in the next 10 years to avoid catastrophic global warming.

Read the story from The Washington Post by Sarah Kaplan - “How a 7th Grader’s Strike Against Climate Change Exploded Into a Movement.”

Climate change strikes across Australia see student protesters defy calls to stay in school

Tens of thousands of young Australians have walked out of their classrooms today to stage protests in capital cities demanding action on climate change.

Melbourne protest organisers said about 20,000
people attended the rally outside Parliament House.

Rallies began in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Canberra and Hobart outside state parliament buildings and town halls.

Students have also marched at rallies across regional Australia, with large crowds protesting at Geelong, Byron Bay, Coffs Harbour, Cairns and Townsville.

Many used humour to get their point across, with posters referencing internet memes and suggesting fail grades for the nation's political efforts on climate change policy.

Read the story from ABC News - “Climate change strikes across Australia see student protesters defy calls to stay in school.”