I know there’s a lot going on in the world, but you probably haven’t heard about what’s happening in Australia.

we’re on fire.

approximately ¼ of australia’s population is in catastrophic fire danger. A catastrophic fire level means your only chance of surviving is leaving before it’s too late.

it’s Spring in Australia, and rainforests aren’t meant to be dry enough to burn, yet at the time of writing this (11/11/19) there are 71 active fires in NSW (43 out of control), and 51 active fires in Queensland - not including those that have already burned before now, and there are more in other states. Sydney is already rated “catastrophic”, the first time this rating has ever been used there since its creation in 2009. That’s right, we had to add yet another level of destructiveness, because “high”, “very high”, “severe”, and “extreme” were no longer adequate. To quote the Fire Danger Ratings, “for your survival, leaving early is the only option”. conditions tomorrow will be the worst they have been, and people are evacuating as we speak. the fire fighters are preparing as best they can.

This isn’t just about people losing their homes; people have died and will die, countless animals have already lost their lives and many more will still perish. our land, our lives, and our hope is up in flames and will soon be nothing but ash. the annual fire season has not even begun yet. this is only the beginning. my native land is burning, and there is nothing i can do to stop it.

the government refuses to acknowledge that we are in a climate crisis. the fires have never been this bad. we have been in severe drought for more than a year which has only contributed to the force of these fires. the Prime Minister Scott Morrison has done nothing but send his “thoughts and prayers”. He will not accept aid from other countries because he is too egotistical to admit that we need it. All the while the people of this land are suffering. Climate change needs radical human change to be combated. we are already seeing the results of years of indifference, and this is barely the beginning of something that will only get worse the longer government’s and big companies refuse to act to counteract climate change.

Our government has also cut funding to Fire and Rescue NSW by 35.4%, the Rural Fire Service by 75.2%, and QLD Rural Fire Service by 26.42%, resulting in closures of services; they don’t have the resources to cope. We are fighting a losing battle against the results of climate change.  and this is only the beginning.

12/11/19 UPDATE

At least 6 million people today are prepared for evacuating. There are strong winds, low humidity, and high temperatures which will only exacerbate and encourage the fires. Authorities have warned that there aren’t enough fire trucks to help everyone, so unless you are prepared to the maximum, you need to leave. 600 schools and TAFE’s across NSW have been closed due to the fires, with others in Queensland closing due to air quality being virtually unbreathable due to smoke. Rural Fire Service Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers said the state was as prepared as it could be, with military aircraft on standby to rescue people from fires if needed. Smoke from these fires have reached as far as New Zealand and New Caledonia.

As Queensland and New South Wales deal with these unprecedented bushfires, there is a lot of talk about how to stop, or at least reduce them. David Bowman is a professor of environmental change biology at the University of Tasmania and he says the short answer is that climate change is making a bad situation worse.

But it’s also much more complex than that. Much of Australia’s natural biodiversity has evolved to withstand and even stop bushfires due to a multitude of species being in one area. Eucalyptus trees encourage fires as they help spread seeds, but other species are naturally flame retardant and help to curb the fires. The issue is that so much of the native bush has been cut down for farming and agriculture that the natural fire defence has virtually been destroyed. Australia is the leading country in mammal extinction, as well as one of the worst 7 for biodiversity loss.

There have already been significant harmful impacts to wildlife, with entire ecosystems up in smoke and individual species affected, including around 350 Koalas presumed dead – all before the fires have reached their peak.

my heart goes out to the victims of the current fires, which we know have been exacerbated by the decline of native biodiversity. Australian conservation efforts need a radical overhaul. Mitigating the intensity of these fires, mostly set by humans and their activities, can be achieved by restoring our native ecosystem engineers, such as bandicoots, bettongs and potoroos.

These species help to maintain healthy forests by continually turning over and breaking down forest leaf litter, thereby drastically reducing fuel load. In their absence, fires are more intense, often reaching the treetops, which can affect populations of species already on the brink, like the Koala.

Slow growing and ancient Australian East coast temperate forests are of global significance, as these forests have some of the highest carbon storage on the planet. Fires of this intensity threaten their very existence but managing wildlife to reduce fire intensity and protect forests is under-appreciated for its importance in reducing the release of carbon into the atmosphere.

If you wish to donate to the NSW Rural Fire Service, follow this link. I’m not sure if it works for countries outside Australia, but if you can spare some money, please try

http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/volunteer/support-your-local-brigade

Or you can donate to the Red Cross who have set up many shelters and are providing first aid, and are trying to fund small kits to provide families with basic necessities

me aged 10: sounds fake but ok

me now:

DO! NOT! DONATE! TO! AMAZON! CONSERVATION! NGOs! DO NOT!

they don’t act on the root of the problem, they don’t mitigate the effects of deforestation, they do have limited action and they don’t help conserve the forest land outside their very small grounds besides doing little to nothing to help the people who actually live in the amazon and conserve it on a daily basis

DONATE TO THE INDIGENOUS MOVEMENTS INSTEAD

This part’s over, and that’s so sad, but it was great, wasn’t it?

Ryann Torrero, Goalkeeper

(i love making these and ppl seem to like them so here we go again)

Cris and Nora are being adorable and i love this, because too often people in wlw relationships are not shows showing (or getting) affection from their female friends. 

Amira is very done with people always suggesting to get food.

Viri got super defensive when Nora suggested that she could treat everyone to some food. I think Viri is scared of getting pity points now when her secret is out there. I can’t decide whether this scene made me think they’ll go more into Viri’s story in this season, or whether they’ll just leave it to situations like this. I’m leaning towards the latter. 

Cris realising that lesbian jokes are her life now. Welcome to the consequence of out life love.

Cris ASKING QUESTIONS ABOUT JOANA’S WELLBEING. Character development. I’d also like to point out that on purpose or not, they are the same height again.

Cris is not so low key loving the compliments and physical contact from Joana. Good job Cris for pointing out to Joana that she doesn’t answer to your questions instead of just being annoyed by it on your own. 

Cris speaking about the rest of their lives and then saying it’s just a figure of speech, but saying it with this face. You are convincing no one darling. 

The tables have slightly turned. Before Joana seemed more confident and more comfortable with pda, but she keeps looking around nervously during the whole clip. Also, points to Cris for just full on asking about kissing in public, i was expecting her to be more against it than Joana, but seems like initiating one public kiss with Joana was enough for Cris to gain confidence to do it more. I’d love to see Cris help Joana be more confident, I feel like Joana has done that a lot for Cris in the past.

We got more info on Joana!!! She’s had a gf before, which explains some of her confident gay. May i point out that Tamara (rizha) had her first gf from the age of THIRTEEN TO SIXTEEN. 13!!!! Confident gay vibes all around.

Cris is listening to Joana talk about her past relationship, how she was before treatment and how she can still be during the bad days with this calm face. I’ll say it again: character development. Also, how pretty is Irene??? 

Cris saying that she will never run away from Joana no matter what the worst thing she’s done is is almost more powerful for me than her saying i love you. (pretty sure the actual i love you scene is coming this week tho)