The World on Fire
Episode One: Australia Bush Fires
This is the world. And this is the world on fire.
Since September 2019, Australia has been experiencing some of the worst fires in the country’s history. Covering an area larger than the country of Belgium, the bushfires have ravaged local wildlife populations, flattened indigenous lands, and destroyed precious habitat. It’s now been estimated that more than 25 people and over a billion animals have been killed in the bushfires, and this number doesn’t include the massive number of farmed animals who have also lost their lives.
On the ground in Australia, powerful images and videos are surfacing showing koalas desperately trying to escape the flames and farmers shooting burned livestock to put them out of their misery. But while seeing these emotional images, are we also asking the question, “why is this happening?”
Australia is currently experiencing the driest and hottest year on record, with temperatures nearing 50 degrees Celsius in some areas. However, many are failing to realize that animal agriculture is one of the main players in the rise in temperatures and usage of fresh water in Australia. A report from the Australian Department of Agriculture found that more than 50% of the country’s land is taken up by animal agriculture while another report found that more than 40% of all agricultural water usage is directed only towards pasture and hay production for grazing animals. To put that number into perspective, a mere 3.5% of Australia’s land goes toward fruits and vegetables for direct human consumption. And on top of that, the exploitation of cows in Australia for cattle grazing and dairy production releases huge amounts of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that is 84 times more destructive than Co2 in the short term. There are more than 25 million beef cattle alone in Australia, which together can produce more than 3 million tons of methane each year. Greenhouse gases trap heat in the earth’s atmosphere and are the leading reason for global temperature rises including those currently happening in Australia.
To make matters worse, the Australian government has initiated a cull of 10,000 camels who are being shot with snipers from helicopters because it is being reported that "feral camels are wreaking havoc in remote communities as the drought makes them desperate for water.". This horrific cull completely overlooks the massive toll on fresh water supplies taken on by animal agriculture and it needs to be stopped.
However, among the tragedies unfolding because of these fires, there is good news: there is something that each and every one of us can to today to help turn the climate catastrophe around: In a groundbreaking report, the University of Oxford announced that adopting a vegan diet is the most powerful way for individuals to reduce their impact on the planet. The question is, “why aren’t we changing?”. We need to look to the future and ask ourselves if our taste buds and our habits are more important than future generations having a planet to live on and more important than the billions of animals who rely on earth’s ecosystem to survive.
The world is on fire and we need to work together to save it.
You can start today by adopting a plant-based diet. This will help to free up land and enable us to reforest the earth, sequestering carbon from the air and helping us extend the CO2 deadline that we currently face.
Secondly, you can help us fight against the massive culling of camels about to start in Australia. Please sign the petition in our bio and send a clear message to the Australian government that before culling innocent animals, we must first examine the unnecessary overuse of fresh water supplies from animal agriculture.
Finally, please join your local Climate Save Movement chapter and get active for the planet and for the animals. Together we can save the earth and all inhabitants that share it.