Severe warnings continue, so why aren't we listening.

Firefighters hose down trees as they battle against bushfires around the town of Nowra in the Australian state of New South Wales on Dec. 31, 2019.

SAEED KHAN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

The world is currently giving us yet another wake-up call. The warnings continue to get more severe. How many will it take before we pay finally pay attention? When are we going to learn?

The recent Australian fire season has been one of the worst in Australia’s history with bushfires burning an estimated 46 million acres, killing at least 34 people with estimates of wildlife fatalities at more than 480 million. In 3 months alone, the bushfires released approx. 400 megatonnes of C02 into the atmosphere, the equivalent of Australia’s average annual C02 emission. This will undoubtedly contribute to global warming, increasing the possibilities of more fires in the future. It was a wake-up call to the world as it watched on.

Now – Coronavirus has been unleashed, disrupting lives across the globe. The bushfires directly affected hundreds of thousands of Australians – now the entire planet is experiencing this direct impact and disruption on day to day life. Whether it was by some secret, sinister intention executed in a government lab to disrupt life in 2020 or just a simple stuff up at a Chinese food market, we are living in days that we had only ever imagined in science fiction movies.

The impact and longevity of climate change on our lifestyles will no doubt pale that of the Coronavirus into insignificance. This disruption is a wakeup call and potentially an indication of what will become normal if we continue on the same path without drastic change.

NASA satellite pictures have shown the atmosphere over China has almost miraculously cleared in the past month.

It’s no secret why – the country has virtually shut down the way it usually operates since the coronavirus outbreak. Factories have come to a halt and that means coal-fired power stations are pumping out lower emissions. Cars and buses and trucks are off the road. The jets have stopped flying.

In one sense, this is a time to rejoice, to marvel at what we can do to repair our planet when we absolutely have our backs against the wall and just simply do what we have to do to survive.

Of course, the lights, most likely, will be turned back on sooner rather than later. The machines and the polluting factories will whir back into life, people will go back into work and the highways will be clogged and jammed once more.

After the global financial crisis (GFC), massive construction-heavy stimulus program were launched that saw global emissions surge. It is highly likely that will happen again.

So before that happens, it would be wonderful if the world took a deep breath and asked this question: what have we learned and how can we take something positive out of this global mess?

This is what we should be demanding of our leaders, insist that we all take stock of what has happened, how we got here and how we can try to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Governments will do what they have to do. They will spend our taxes and rebuild and to that extent, it is very hard for any of us to stop that happening.

But as people and citizens, we can take the chance to look at recent events and ask ourselves how we can make a difference. Because we can.

If the bushfires and the virus have shown us anything, it is that we want to survive and if we are to survive, we have to change how we live our lives.

We can all make a difference. Saving ourselves and the planet starts with me. With you.

At CEH, we believe small changes make a big difference. I hope you will join us on the journey to a cleaner, brighter and more sustainable world.

HAYLEY MONTEITH

CEO, Creative Eco Hub (CEH)