Ours is a country long familiar with bush fires. But Saturday 7 February 2009 was by far the worst in Australia’s history. With a death toll of at least 181, and still burning out of control, it already eclipses the nations' previous deadliest fires – 1983's ‘Ash Wednesday’(75 dead) and 1939's ‘Black Friday’(71 dead), and has been described as Australia’s worst natural disaster.
Living among the tall eucalyptus trees, people know that deadly fire is a possibility. Homes prepare for it, clearing the immediate surroundings of anything which will burn, keeping gutters clear of debris and, as a fire approaches, drenching the house and gutters with water. Those households who were able to get a warning from the County Fire Authority were advised to either get out early or stay and defend their homes. A fire chief observed that, previously, 99 times out of 100 people would survive defending a well-prepared house.
Not this time. Barely a week after a record-breaking heatwave, and with the forests parched and tinder-dry from a long drought, the day of the fires saw the highest temperatures ever recorded. The thermometer on the front porch of our Melbourne home read 46C. Accompanying this was a fierce wind. Under these conditions the highly flammable oil in eucalyptus leafs vapourizes. What destroyed at least 900 homes, including whole towns, around Melbourne was a fast-moving gas fireball of incredible size and power.
A day later I joined hundreds of people from Melbourne’s different communities and faith traditions in prayer for those who had lost their lives and homes. It was the first in a series of ‘pre-parliament’ events in Melbourne looking to the next Parliament of the World's Religions which will take place in the city in December. At times like this the community pulls together and we are reminded of what is most important – family, friends and life itself. Material possessions are no substitute.
One of the keynote speakers, Don Henry, from the Australian Conservation Foundation, made the link between the fires, extreme weather and global warming, and in response a panel of representatives from three faiths underlined that all religions view caring for the environment as a vital moral issue. Welcoming us all to the event, one of the Aboriginal representatives summed it up this way: ‘take care of this land and this land will take care of you’.
I hope that this terrible tragedy can be a wake-up call. Australians are among the world’s worst polluters per head of population, seemingly addicted to our air-conditioned affluence fueled by some of the world’s cheapest coal. This week we have seen how vulnerable our continent is to global warming. Others are still more vulnerable. A speaker from the tiny Pacific nation of Kiribati told us that his nation will be one of the first to completely disappear as sea levels rise.
Early in January a friend circulated a letter he had received from Tom Burke, one of Britain’s most influential campaigners on environmental issues and a senior advisor to corporate and governmental bodies, saying that 2009 is, arguably, the most important year in human history. While politicians grapple with recession and war, Burke argues, ‘in December of this year a meeting far more important than war or recession to the future prosperity and security of all seven billion of us will take place in Copenhagen. We know that, terrible though consequences of war and recession are, they pass. Climate change is for ever.’ The summit meeting in Copenhagen will negotiate the successor to the Kyoto treaty. Scientists are telling us we have less time than we thought to drastically reduce greenhouse emissions – maybe five to fifteen years at most. If we are to avoid catastrophic global warming, it is vital that the Copenhagen summit commits to serious cuts.
In recent days many friends around the world have been in contact asking if we are OK and if there is anything they can do. My response to the latter question is to ask them to help generate the political will to save our planet.
By chance, the Parliament of the World's Religions will be meeting in Melbourne at exactly the same time as the Copenhagen summit. You can be sure that the representatives gathered here will be sending their prayers and messages to Copenhagen asking for a strong moral commitment of solidarity to those most affected by climate change – our children and future generations.
UPDATE 5 MARCH
Since this was written the official number of those who perished has risen to 210 and the number of homes destroyed has risen to 2049. 78 towns were affected and 400,000 hectares were burnt.
NOTE: Individuals of many cultures, nationalities, religions, and beliefs are actively involved with Initiatives of Change. These commentaries represent the views of the writer and not necessarily those of Initiatives of Change as a whole.
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