Voices of Anxiety as Australia Burns

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/07/opinion/letters/australia-fires-climate.html

Version 0 of 1.

To the Editor:

Re “Australia Is Committing Climate Suicide,” by Richard Flanagan (Op-Ed, Jan. 4):

Heartbroken and desperate Australians want Prime Minister Scott Morrison to stop trying to repair his damaged image by having photo shoots with shattered victims and giving platitudes when we need leadership and action.

Mr. Flanagan is correct that our country is deeply affected by climate change, resulting in widespread drought and catastrophic bush fires through large swaths of the country. The Great Barrier Reef and our kelp forests, which extend across the bottom of Australia, are dying because of ocean warming, acidification and cattle station runoff.

We have lost thousands of our native animals and birds, farmed animals and pets. Loss of human lives and homes is mounting daily.

Mr. Flanagan’s suggestion is correct: Australia is looking very much like the “Chernobyl of climate crisis,” and summer has just begun. Actions against climate change are urgent in Australia and worldwide.

Diane CorneliusPhil CorneliusSeacliff Park, Australia

To the Editor:

We woke recently to heavy smoke in the air. We live in Stanley, a small village in the Victorian High Country, a three-hour drive north of Melbourne. The fire authorities were suggesting that the three bush fires could join to form a mega-fire. We made the decision to evacuate. We loaded the car and joined the thousands of other Australians across the country who were evacuating their homes in regional areas.

Richard Flanagan’s article was compelling reading and succinctly reflected the appalling leadership void the Australian community is facing.

For many Australians, it seems as if we’ve entered some sort of “Back to the Future” parallel universe and somehow Biff is in charge.

Robert CraigStanley, Australia

To the Editor:

Suicide is an individual action. Richard Flanagan seems to believe that Australia has some significant control over atmospheric carbon dioxide, and that by government action, wildfires and changes to the Great Barrier Reef potentially associated with climate change can somehow be mitigated.

Australia is a country with under 25 million people. If all Australians stopped use of fossil fuels entirely, there would be no significant effect on any environmental consequence of carbon emission. Countries buying Australian coal and gas would get it somewhere else.

Addressing the effects of fossil fuel combustion on climate is a global challenge that requires global participation. The most important contribution Australia can make to carbon dioxide emission reduction is to spearhead efforts to accelerate deployment of nuclear power in Western democracies, making use of their abundant uranium and thorium reserves.

This would give competition to Russia’s efforts to dominate the world’s nuclear power industry and provide long-term opportunities for export and high-value jobs for Australians.

Eric McFarlandSanta Barbara, Calif.The writer is a professor of chemical engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara.