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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
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Anjali Sharma

As the world burns, young Australians are feeling disbelief – and looking for answers

Smoke from the LA wildfires turns the sun red
Smoke from the LA wildfires. ‘There is still no legislation in Australia that acknowledges the disproportionate impact that climate change will have on children and future generations,’ Anjali Sharma writes. Photograph: Patrick T Fallon/AFP/Getty Images

I’m scrolling on TikTok after work when I get a text that would have sent 12-year-old Anjali into a spiral, a frenzy of extreme climate anxiety. The text is from a friend letting me know that it’s official – 2024 is the hottest year on record. Not just that, it’s the first year to exceed 1.5C of warming over preindustrial levels.

The news comes as my entire feed is flooded with images of an inferno of flames ripping through neighbourhoods in LA, in winter.

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