I’m off to Australia in a couple of days, for the publication of Forecast there. The first stop will be Melbourne, scene of last weekend’s bushfires–the deadliest in the country’s history.
AT Global Post today I ask to what extent the disaster should be blamed on our emissions.
It begins:
After its deadliest bushfires ever, Australia is in mourning.
Television reports flicker around the world, depicting walls of flames tearing through suburban towns outside Melbourne in southeastern Australia.
The scenes of destruction are reminiscent of a war zone.
At least 135 people died in the infernos, many of them burned in their homes or overtaken in their cars as they tried to flee. The toll is expected to rise as rescue workers explore the ash-covered devastation.
“This is of a level of horror that few of us anticipated,” Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told Australian television. “There are no words to describe it other than mass murder.”
Read more.
[update: the death toll has now reached 171]