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Thousands Flee to the Ocean to Escape Australia Wildfires

HeadlineDec 31, 2019

In Australia, 4,000 people were forced to flee to the beach as deadly wildfires scorched the southeast of the country Tuesday. Mallacoota residents were trapped between the ocean and advancing flames as smoke turned the morning sky black. The death toll from the fires rose to 12 after a father and son in the region died fighting the fires. Climate change-fueled fires in Australia have killed nearly 500 million animals and blanketed the country in smoke. Climate activists and scientists are pointing to Australia as an example of what’s to come in the decades ahead if radical steps aren’t taken to curb global carbon emissions.

This comes as the Bank of England governor, Mark Carney, warned that the world is on track to warm nearly 4 degrees Celsius, and urged financial institutions to stop financing companies that fuel climate change.

Mark Carney: “It’s talked about 2020 being a decade of action absolutely necessary on climate change. We want action on the finance side. We want, on that disclosure, companies doing that disclosure. We want that to become the norm.”

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