Morrison and his Parliament were met with an open letter from scientists condemning the government’s inaction towards climate change.
As of 0600 AEST on February 4th, 2020, 394 scientists have co-signed an open letter addressed to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. In the letter, the scientists address the root cause of the 2019/2020 bushfires and warn Morrison about the consequences of ignoring the importance of climate change. The executive summary states:
“We, the undersigned climate, weather and fire scientists, call on our country’s leaders and policymakers to develop science-informed policies to combat human-caused climate change. To be successful, these policies must urgently reduce Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions and lead to constructive engagement and agreements with other world leaders for coordinated global climate action.”
The key points the scientists advise Morrison on are: climate change is responsible for the worsening fires, summers will have more extreme fire seasons that will start earlier along the southern and eastern Australia, climate variability is being crippled by climate change, drought has led to this degree of destruction, and that Australia, as a part of the Paris Agreement, has a responsibility to fight climate change.
“Scientific evidence indicates a need for immediate action to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions and manage a rapid transition to net zero emissions by 2050 if we are to limit the many climate change risks facing the Australian people, economy and environment.”
The letter was published as Parliament reopened for the first time this year. Morrison’s government has not yet acknowledged climate change as a predominant cause of the bushfires.
The full letter can be found here.
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