My Brother Fled Australia's Climate-Fueled Inferno: "It Was a War Zone"
The Mother Jones Podcast
Mother Jones
4.5 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 8 January 2020
⏱️ 28 minutes
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Summary
Australia's wildfire emergency has no end in sight. This is what scientists warned would happen, and now it is: runaway wildfires of unprecedented scale and destruction are raging around Australia. At least 25 people have been killed, and about 3,000 military personnel have mobilized to assist in the evacuation of about 100,000 residents across the country's South East. The toll on the ecosystem remains less clear, but a widely reported estimate puts the number of wildlife killed at 480 million (not including frogs, bats, or insects.) Today, you'll hear from Marc West, the brother of our executive producer James, who managed to evacuate with his family from one of the hardest hit regions just as the crisis mounted. You'll also hear from one of the world's most prominent scientists studying the intersection of climate change and extreme weather, Michael Mann, who happens to be in Australia witnessing this disaster unfold firsthand. Note: since recording parts of this episode, the reported death toll from the bushfire crisis has risen to at least 25. The estimated numbers of homes destroyed and acres burned have also continued to increase.
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| 0:00.0 | This is the Mother Jones Podcast. I'm Jamila King in New York. |
| 0:05.0 | On today's show, climate catastrophe. This is what they warned would happen and now |
| 0:20.0 | it's happening. It's awful that like the things that are happening are just appalling. |
| 0:27.0 | The real life worst case scenario raging around Australia. |
| 0:31.5 | These places were just scorched Earth. |
| 0:33.2 | It was a war zone. |
| 0:34.6 | Runaway wildfires of unprecedented scale and destruction |
| 0:39.6 | with no end in sight. |
| 0:41.4 | Today, we'll take you there. You'll hear the fury of everyday Australians |
| 0:45.8 | outraged by political inaction. Because our town doesn't have a lot of money but we |
| 0:50.5 | have hearts of gold Mr Prime Minister and one scientist confronting the |
| 0:55.0 | fear of a tipping point. We're being given a vision of our future if we don't |
| 0:59.6 | act on climate but that future is now. We're seeing it happen. |
| 1:03.7 | Stick around. As bad as it gets. It's been labeled the worst fire season ever recorded. |
| 1:19.0 | It's horrific, it's like a war zone, catastrophic. |
| 1:24.0 | Go! |
| 1:26.0 | Strong changeable winds fanning the destruction. |
| 1:29.0 | An apocalypse, a nightmare and like looking into the gates of hell. |
| 1:35.0 | High winds soaring temperatures and thunderstorms. |
| 1:39.0 | The blazes a near constant threat for months. |
| 1:41.0 | At times, firefighters battling flames |
| 1:44.2 | over 200 feet high. |
... |
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