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RUBY:

From Schwartz Media, I’m Ruby Jones. This is 7am.

As wildfires tore through some of LA’s most affluent neighbourhoods, burning down mansions owned by celebrities, some wondered if it might be a turning point in how seriously we take the climate crisis.

But climate scientist Joëlle Gergis wasn’t sharing that hope.

Instead, what she saw made her angry. That we seem more interested in the heartache of the wealthy, while the effects of climate change continue to disproportionately affect the poor.

And that as Californians lose their homes and their lives, a climate denier has entered the white house.

Now she’s turning her attention to the next election, here in Australia where she says we have a choice to make about how comfortable we are being complicit.

Today, climate scientist and contributor to The Saturday Paper Joëlle Gergis on why the next election is a fork in the road for our climate.

It’s Friday, January 24.

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RUBY:

So, Joëlle, I thought we could start by talking about the wildfires that we saw in California recently. As you watched them unfold, as you watched the suburbs of LA burn and saw people and animals dying, what were you thinking?

JOËLLE:

Well, so many things were running through my mind, I guess, as an Australian. My mind went immediately back to the memories of that horrendous Black Summer bushfire season of 2019-2020. And that was when we saw close to a quarter of our temperate forests burn in a single bushfire season.

Audio excerpt — News Reporter 1:

“We were warned of catastrophic conditions and right now there are seven fires burning at emergency level. A powerful southerly is currently moving through, making conditions for firefighters even more chaotic.”

JOËLLE:

You know, over half of our ancient rainforests were incinerated during this event and over 3 million animals were killed or displaced. And even during that event, the koala was listed as an endangered species in New South Wales. And so it was one of those things that was a real pivotal moment for me where I realised that what used to be considered an extreme outlier in today's climate will become average conditions in the future. And so it's been a real wake up call to me as a scientist that I need to be doing more to warn the public about the threats we're facing, not only here in Australia, but also around the world.

In terms of the Californian wildfires, really it's a textbook example of what we can expect with a warming planet. So California experienced its hottest summer on record and a severe drought that saw just four millimetres of rainfall since October last year. And so basically, the landscape just burnt because everything had dried out and it burnt all the way to the coastline, which is pretty phenomenal if you stop and you think about that. And during winter, of course.

Audio excerpt — News Reporter 2:

“Well, tens of thousands are still under evacuation orders tonight, with just some residents allowed back just now seeing the devastation firsthand. And the fight is far from over. Serious Santa Ana winds are forecasted for tomorrow, bringing risk of large fire growth.”

JOËLLE:

It's really just a sign of an overheating planet. It's also a sign of what we can expect. But it does give me chills as an Australian scientist watching these events unfolding because I know what it means for us here at home.

RUBY:

And as that crisis was unfolding in California, news broke that we've just experienced Earth's warmest year on record, 2024. So, I mean, that's obviously related to the fires. Can you tell me about why it is that we're seeing fires on this scale right now?

JOËLLE:

So basically it just comes back down to humanity's relentless burning of fossil fuels. So that's the burning of coal, oil and gas. That will continue to drive up temperatures until we reach net zero emissions. So really, until we do that, there's going to be no let up of this warming trend. And in fact, as you said, while these fires were burning, leading scientific organisations around the world have confirmed that 2024 was the warmest year on record. And also another interesting fact in there was that the top ten warmest years have all occurred since 2015. So really the last decade has been the warmest in our planet's history. And in fact, 2024 was the first year that global temperatures have exceeded the Paris Agreement’s goal of 1.5 degrees. And the real problem with this is that global greenhouse gas concentrations reached record highs last year. So there's no clear decline in sight and in fact, methane, which is a really powerful heat trapping gas that's about 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide, has risen really sharply. And it's got a lot of scientists worried because of its role in triggering periods of abrupt climate change in the Earth's history. And the other issue here is that many countries, including Australia, are currently promoting methane or natural gas as a transition fuel with no scientifically credible plan to transition away from it any time before 2050. So until we get serious about turning the fossil fuel tap off, the planet is just going to continue to warm and so it's going to get ugly.

RUBY:

And the wildfires, while they were burning, they dominated the news cycle. And that was, of course, because of the scale of them, but it was also because of the people who were affected, the celebrities who are losing their homes. And I just wonder what you made of the fact that this attracted the attention it did compared to other climate related crises that have happened in other parts of the world on a regular basis?

JOËLLE:

I started to find myself getting a little bit angry actually when I was watching the media because I guess this uncomfortable reality we need to face is that Western media is more interested in covering the losses and the heartache of white rich people rather than those of dark skinned, poorer people.

Audio excerpt — News Reporter 3:

“Celebrities are speaking out as devastating wildfires spread through Southern California.”

Audio excerpt — News Reporter 4:

“This is one of LA's most exclusive neighbourhoods. It is home to the likes of Reese Witherspoon, Ben Affleck, Tom Hanks. All were evacuated.”

Audio excerpt — News Reporter 5:

“We're getting word, you know, as the hours go by of more celebrities who have, yes, actually not just been threat of losing their property, but have actually lost homes.”

JOËLLE:

The Californian wildfires attracted a lot of attention because of the fact that I guess, you know, some of the most iconic areas of America were being impacted by the fires. And the Western media is also really obsessed with Hollywood culture. So as we've seen in the recent coverage, journalists have this inane fixation on reporting news of burnt mansions of Hollywood celebrities like Billy Crystal or Mel Gibson or Paris Hilton. Instead of making that connection between how fossil fuels are driving climate change and how that's destabilising our world in the form of these really extreme events. And around about 150,000 people in LA were ordered to evacuate, but there was no mention made of the over 20 million people that were internally displaced because of weather disasters in 2023. So that's the year where we have the latest figures. And so I'm pretty sure most of those people did not have the luxury of paying private firefighters to save their homes. And it really highlights the inequalities entrenched in this issue and how surreal this whole situation has become.

RUBY:

And there was this sentiment that I heard from some people, but perhaps this crisis in California, because of all the attention that it's receiving, would actually end up somehow changing the course of our response to the climate crisis. That it might raise enough attention somehow for people, I suppose, to take it more seriously. Is that naive?

JOËLLE:

Yeah. Look, I saw that too, on social media and I would say it's probably a case of just wishful thinking. I mean, as a climate scientist, it's really hard not to feel cynical when people say that perhaps an event like the LA fires are going to be the moment where the world finally wakes up to the reality of climate change. And the truth is that this is just another event that people will eventually tire of and the media circus will move on. And the reality also here is that the climate change denier, Donald Trump, was sworn into the White House this week.

At a time where the world is facing just an unprecedented confluence of global disasters. The new US president is expected to pull the world's second largest greenhouse gas emitter out of the Paris Agreement and he's been bragging about his pro fossil fuel use in terms of his policy of drill, baby, drill.

He's not the only one. World governments still plan to produce more than double the amount of fossil fuels in 2030. That is consistent with limiting warming to 1.5 degrees. So coal production is expected to continue until then, with oil and gas extending out to at least 2050. So in my view, things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. And really, it's a case of our political leaders and our business leaders having the courage to put a price on carbon and remove the fossil fuel subsidies that are blocking the renewable energy transition.

And until then, we're just going to see these worsening weather extremes that are going to upend our lives and reconfigure life on the planet.

RUBY:

After the break, what will it take for Australian leaders to turn off the fossil fuel tap?

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RUBY:

Joëlle, let's talk a little more about our political leaders here in Australia, because we are, of course, getting close to another federal election. So what do you make of the debate that we're hearing around climate at the moment and whether it's urgent enough?

JOËLLE:

I think that the climate war is still alive in Australia, but we have come a long way. And I do think that the next federal election is a really fateful fork in the road for our nation. So we really have a clear choice between leaders who are trying to keep the country on track to decarbonise our economy and those who want to lead us down a nuclear power dead end. So the fact of the matter is that renewables are the cheapest and the cleanest form of energy and it can be deployed really, really quickly. We don't have to wait until the 2040’s or 2050’s for nuclear power because Australia actually is the sunniest continent on the planet and yet only 18 percent of our electricity is generated by solar. So that is an enormous economic advantage that we're currently squandering. And while the Labor Government has made some good progress on renewables, so currently nearly 40 percent of Australia's electricity is now powered by clean energy sources, but the Government runs the risk of undoing all of this good work by continuing to support fossil fuel production.

RUBY:

And so do you think that there are areas or ways of responding to the climate crisis that are still untapped, things that, you know, we could or should be doing that would provide a roadmap forward and some hope in terms of combating what's ahead?

JOËLLE:

Well, yeah, I mean there's a range of scientific agencies that have shown that it's possible to reduce global emissions between 50 and 80 percent by 2030 using technologies that are available right now. And even the CSIRO has shown that a fossil fuel intensive nation like Australia could halve its emissions by 2030 using existing technology. So in that report they identify the decarbonisation of the electricity sector as the way to unlock Australia's clean energy transition in other areas like green manufacturing and electrified transport and things like that. So really we just need this new generation of leaders to foster that political, social and economic environment. We need to incentivise the clean energy transition.

And and really, once the benefits of a green economy start to be realised, we won't look back. Our only regret will be that we didn't start any sooner.

RUBY:

And as you say, though, the current Labor government is still committed to mining fossil fuels, that doesn't seem likely to change. How do you envision a way of, I suppose, putting pressure on that?

JOËLLE:

Well, this is where I feel that how we vote really, really matters and that Australia's next federal election is a really fateful fork in the road for our nation. And the more that we understand that as voters, we can influence our political leadership into doing better. So if the electorate really wants to see real climate action because, you know, sometimes there's a lot of hollow words when we talk about climate change and climate action being this insidious phrase that I don't love, actually. But I think it comes down to people being really aware of the connection between the burning of fossil fuels. So whether those fossil fuels are burned here within Australia's borders or overseas with our trading partners, the atmosphere doesn't really care where those fossil fuels originated. The fact is they pollute the environment, they're driving up temperatures and the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is leading to more and more extreme weather. And so, you know, this is the time to not stand on the sidelines. We really have to engage in our political conversation. And what we do as Australians really matters as the third largest exporter of fossil fuels and what we do in terms of our ethical stance and our moral stance on this really matters.

RUBY:

Joelle, thank you for your time.

JOËLLE:

Oh pleasure, Ruby. Thanks a lot.

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Also in the news today,

One of Australia’s biggest music festivals, Splendour in the Grass, has been cancelled for the second year in a row.

The festival previously announced it would be cancelling the 2024 event, just weeks after it announced its line up, with Kylie Minogue as the headliner.

On social media, Splendour in the Grass organisers have now posted 2025 won’t be going ahead either but will be back when “the time is right”.

AND

A huge, foul smelling flower has bloomed in Sydney, and will emit its stench for 24 hours only.

The rare and endangered flower, known as the “corpse flower” and nicknamed “Putricia” is on display at the Royal Botanic Gardens.

Corpse flowers are usually found in the West Sumatran rainforests, and there are estimates that there are only 1,000 specimens left in the wild.

7am is a daily show from Schwartz Media and The Saturday Paper.

It’s made by Atticus Bastow, Cheyne Anderson, Chris Dengate, Daniel James, Erik Jensen, Ruby Jones, Sarah McVeigh, Travis Evans and Zoltan Fecso.

Our theme music is by Ned Beckley and Josh Hogan of Envelope Audio.

See you next week.

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