Australia is one of the most progressive countries in the world. It is known for many things, especially the Great Barrier Reef, the largest eco-system globally, animals like koalas, kangaroos, spiders, snakes, the Sydney Opera House, Bondi Beach, etc.
Australia is known for preserving nature and taking care of its wild animals. Although they are good at those, it is inevitable to have environmental issues.
What is Australia doing to handle these environmental issues?
Climate Change
The most significant factors that affect climate change are burning coal, oil, and electricity generation.
In Australia, there are cold areas and hot areas. The sudden change of climate not only affects humans but also wildlife and their environment.
One of the ways they handle climate change is the Emissions Reduction Fund, which influences organizations and their citizens to find ways to diminish their use of emissions.
Air Pollution
Every year, an estimate of almost 5000 Australians die from being exposed to pollution. The things that contribute to air pollution in Australia are industrial plants, smoke from bushfires, and more.
Compared to other countries in the world, Australia has clean air. But it doesn’t mean that they should be careless about it. They should maintain that standard, and it will be challenging for them because they are a progressive country.
To help assure that they will maintain having clean air in the coming years, Australia’s Environment Ministers authorized the National Clean Air Agreement.
Deforestation
Deforestation is one of Australia’s most significant environmental issues. It is the cause of why animals lose their habitats. When deforestation happens, there will be a massive loss of trees, and without trees, erosion will occur. There will be an increase in greenhouse vapors in the environment.
Australia has been trying to finance climate change projects. One of these projects is planting trees in affected areas and protecting those untouched forests from deforestation.
Bushfire
Australia declared a state of emergency last 2019 due to the bushfires that happened in New South Wales. It has been reported that almost 10.3 million hectares have burned down. What’s shocking is that it is nearly the size of South Korea.
Millions of animals have lost their lives during this bushfire; the fire has destroyed homes, killing people and volunteers. Everyone in that massive area was affected, and the conditions were just not livable anymore.
The Australian government has organized the National Bushfire Recovery Agency, helping the affected communities rebuild their homes and rehabilitate their community.
They also have a HomeBuilder scheme that gives families affected by the bushfire $15,000 or $25,000, depending on when the Australian citizen signed the building contract. This is a lot of help for family’s who were affected. They can build a new house, lay turf, plant more trees, and try to go back to everyday living after the devastation.
Overfishing
The cause of overfishing in Australia is the poor management of marine life. The number of southern bluefin tuna, blue warehou, silver trevally, orange roughy, and the bigeye tuna species has declined due to overfishing.
Commercial fishing is one of the reasons for overfishing. They’re not only taking a lot of fish, but they get bycatch all the time.
Bycatch or unwanted catch often happens in commercial fishing, wherein animals like sharks, whales, turtles, and dolphins get caught unintentionally because of the massive nets.
Not only are they overfishing, but the massive nets they use to fish can also destroy the corals.
The Australian government has developed a National Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing.
What can the citizens do to help fight these environmental issues in their own homes?
- Reduce Carbon Footprint
- Volunteer in Wildlife Organizations
- Sustainable Fishing
- Plant trees
- Educate on Environmental Issues
- Save Electricity by using energy-efficient appliances
- Recycle
- Be mindful of trash
A neat environment is essential to the continuance of all the living creatures on earth. A clean environment keeps us from getting sick from bad air.
No one owns the earth; we are all just settlers here. The least we can do is make it clean for the next generations. Little things like recycling can go a long way.
When people do their part to lessen pollution, it also lowers the chances of sickness.
Australia has come up with policies that will help conserve nature. Australia is a beautiful country with so much to offer. The least people can do is not destroy the natural resources but take care of them.