Australia fires under control and global solidarity

Fire departments in Australia announced yesterday, Monday, their control of the largest fire known to the country, after three months of combating it, at a time when calls for solidarity are increasing globally with the victims of the environmental disaster, amid a local decline in the popularity of the government.

Yesterday, firefighters detected about 140 burning spots in the states of New South Wales and Victoria, the two states most affected by the fires, but the authorities nonetheless assert that they are controlling the situation after the extinguishing of dozens of fires throughout the country.

And meteorologists announced that it expected rain in quantities that may reach fifty millimeters next week, to breathe a sigh of relief after months of drought.

The Australian authorities said today that Melbourne - the second largest city in the country - and other parts of the state of Victoria, are suffering from the worst air quality in the world due to smoke.

The authorities advised the residents to stay indoors, but the Meteorological Authority said that southwest winds would start removing smoke tomorrow.

Global solidarity
While Canadian and American firefighting teams are helping to extinguish the Victoria fires, the European Commission confirmed yesterday that Australia had rejected - until further notice - an offer from the European Union to send European firefighters to assist them, and the Australian government announced its appreciation for this offer.

Over the weekend, Sydney is hosting a rich fundraising party for firefighters, the Red Cross and wildlife, and many donations have poured in to help residents and affected animals.

According to the latest data of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, 28 people have died in Australia so far in fires, and about a billion animals and birds have died, including koalas and kangaroos, as well as endangered species such as the honey-eating bird and the western terrestrial parrot.

A group of students and elephants in Thailand participated in a silent march yesterday in honor of the animals that fell victim to fires in Australia, while marches took place in several cities around the world to remind about the danger of global warming and its role in increasing the number of fires.

Political implications
The political repercussions of the crisis began to become more apparent, as a poll conducted by the "Newspool" center yesterday revealed that Morrison's popularity declined due to his way of managing the crisis. In the elections a month ago.

Morrison is under heavy criticism, and his opponents say he failed to give clear answers about the causes of the devastating fires that started in early September, and they focused on his going on a vacation to Hawaii last month.

Morrison had announced at the beginning of the crisis that local authorities had the means to combat it, and that volunteer firefighters "wanted to do this job."

He also announced more than once that Australia was doing everything it could to reach greenhouse gas emissions targets, but stated its support for the profitable coal sector despite harming the environment, prompting many activists to go out against it in mass demonstrations.

In response to the demonstrations, Morrison took measures such as deploying the army, mobilizing reserve elements, pledging to pay billions of dollars in aid and raising the firefighters' financial allocations.