Protesters in smoke-covered Sydney kicked off a fresh round of global protests against climate change on Friday, with activists and schoolchildren picketing the headquarters of bushfire-ravaged Australia's ruling party.Hundreds of people gathered at the conservative Liberal party's offices, as protesters in several Asia-Pacific cities heeded the call to action from 16-year-old climate change campaigner Greta Thunberg.The protests have taken on extra urgency in Australia – the country's southeast has been devastated by hundreds of damaging bushfires in recent weeks.Six people have died and hundreds of homes have been destroyed in the crisis, which scientists say has been worsened by rising temperatures.Drought and unseasonably hot, dry and windy conditions have fuelled the unprecedented blazes.
The target of the protesters' ire was Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who has angrily denied any link between the fires and climate change while defending his support for fossil fuels.Australia, with a population of 25 million, has low carbon emissions compared with the planet's biggest polluters, but is one of the world's leading coal exporters.
Missed targets
Protests also took place in Melbourne and Tokyo, where hundreds marched through the teeming Shinjuku district to raise awareness of the issue."I feel a sense of crisis because almost no one in Japan is interested" in climate change, said 19-year-old student Mio Ishida."I was really inspired by Greta's actions" she said."I thought if I didn't act now, it would be too late. I wanted to do something I could do."
Scientists have warned that efforts to cap warming to 1.5 Celsius are failing, and that carbon emissions – which are on the rise – would need to fall 7.6 percent a year to meet the target.The UN has reported that greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere, the main driver of climate change, hit a record high last year.The organisation has also warned that global temperatures are on pace to rise almost four Celsius by the end of the century – an increase that could make some places virtually uninhabitable.
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