Watching our politicians fumble through the bushfire crisis, I’m overwhelmed by déjà vu

As someone who has studied Australian climate policy and politics closely, this summer’s bushfire crisis have been both heartbreaking and bewildering. The grave warnings politicians ignored for so long have now come to pass.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison was savaged by
critics for refusing to meet former fire chiefs.

The fires may be without precedent, but these dark weeks have also brought an overwhelming sense of déjà vu. It’s hard to believe, but the Morrison government’s fumbling response to the fires and the broader climate crisis is in many ways history repeating.

From the disastrous optics of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s trip to Hawaii to blaming conservationists for the fires, our politicians keep making the same blunders and rolling out the same failed strategies.

Read the story from The Conversation by a researcher on sociomaterial transformations and social movements from Keele University, Marc Hudson - “Watching our politicians fumble through the bushfire crisis, I’m overwhelmed by déjà vu.”

Anthropogenic Climate Change: The Size of Our Solutions Does Not Match the Size of Our Problems

The October 2018 UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report issued grave warnings of dire consequences if we are not able to limit global temperature increase to 1.5 C within 12 years. The authors of this explosive report elaborate that unprecedented and sweeping changes are required to meet this target, which is feasible if the most aggressive interpretation of the Paris Climate Agreement is utilized.

Our solutions to climate change don't match the size of the problem.

The effects of climate breakdown are already underway, as summarized by the Union of Concerned Scientists here. These include, among others, “rising seas and increased coastal flooding, longer and more damaging wildfire seasons, more destructive hurricanes, more frequent and intense heat waves, severe droughts, and increased pressure on groundwater and food supplies.” These effects significantly threaten the prospects of continued organized human existence on the planet.

Read the Exiled Consensus story - “Anthropogenic Climate Change: The Size of Our Solutions Does Not Match the Size of Our Problems.”