Australia Fires Could Burn for Months
Australia's Prime Minister has defended his government's climate policy as authorities warn that fires in New South Wales could continue for months.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison visited several Australian television shows on the morning of December 23 as around 200 fires were burning in four Australian states, more than half of them in New South Wales.
Morrison's government has been criticized for not taking enough action on climate change. Australia is the world's largest exporter of coal, and Morrison has refused to reduce the size of the industry, saying he would not give up the jobs of thousands of Australians.
He was also criticized for taking a family vacation to Hawaii during the crisis. He returned early to visit evacuation and emergency control centers, and visited the families of two firefighters killed on December 19 southwest of Sydney.
More than 3 million hectares of land have burned around the country during the last few months. Nine people have been killed and more than 900 homes have been destroyed, almost 800 of them in New South Wales.
There is some hope that temperatures will soon get cooler. But Shane Fitzsimmons of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service said that there will not be enough rain to help control the fires until January or February.
Morrison’s government won a surprise third term in May. He has promised to reduce the country's greenhouse gases by 26% to 28% by 2030 – but his opponents promised a 45% reduction.
Morrison said he would focus on "responsible management," working to reduce climate change while still growing the Australian economy.
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