State of climate emergency
THOUSANDS of Fijians living abroad have been saddened seeing the aftermath of STC Yasa.
Some of us who lived through TC Bebe in 1972 thought it was such a scary experience.
However, those of us who left Fiji years ago have never experienced a Category 5 Cyclone.
So as much as we’d like to try and understand, we simply can’t comprehend the carnage winds gusting up to 345km/ph is capable of doing.
The videos, photographs and stories are beginning to give us a glimpse of the magnitude of the mayhem so many of you have had to endure.
The reality is — Cyclones are getting bigger and more ferocious. And there’s no end in sight to these monstrosities bearing down on so many communities all over the world.
On Thursday, December 17, something the Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama, said began resonating for me in a way that’s never done before. And I quote:
“This is not normal. This is a climate emergency!”
No matter where we live in the world, we’re all aware of climate change — but a climate emergency places a completely different emphasis on the global threat.
Just one word in the narrative has given climate change a new meaning and a new urgency.
Whether we’re a climate change sceptic or someone who believes we’re on the edge of a dangerous precipice, the world is in a state of climate emergency.
All of a sudden, and without warning, one of the most talked about issues facing planet Earth has been re-branded, hopefully, to generate urgent action.
This is not a dress rehearsal for future generations.
While stopping the huge carbon emissions worldwide is top on the priority list, it will not be enough.
In a climate emergency we need to attack this problem from both sides — stopping carbon emissions is just one side of the equation.
The other more urgent action that’s required is explained best in the documentary, Kiss the Ground — exploring the connection between the soil and climate change and the many ways we can use “dirt” to help heal the earth and the atmosphere.
That’s right — it’s the “dirt” that can clean up the dirt driven environment and atmosphere like nothing else can according to the experts in the documentary, Kiss The Ground.
Use nature’s dirt to regenerate our atmosphere from all of the pollution that’s causing the world’s weirdly damaging weather patterns.
Please watch Kiss the Ground and make
up your own mind!
COLIN DEOKI
Melbourne, Australia