Deadly blazes have torn through huge swaths of Australia's east and south for months now, in the most brutal fire season seen there in years. Across the country, 23 people have been killed and about 6 million hectares (23,000 square miles) of bushland -- around the same size as Croatia -- have burned out.
The devastation and persistent clouds of toxic smoke hanging over major towns and cities are begging the question, can Australia's way of life go on?
The environmental situation won't change quickly, but in the dog-eat-dog world of Australian politics, the country's leadership is something that could change overnight. Climate and energy policies can make or break a leader.
Morrison could be in trouble over the fire crisis. He was forced to return from a family holiday when the Australian media questioned why he was vacationing in Hawaii as so much of the country burned. He took weeks to declare a state of emergency, releasing a highly controversial religious discrimination bill at a news conference instead, while journalists fired tough questions at him over a lack of funding for volunteer firefighters.
Morrison -- once a climate change skeptic who literally sang praises to a lump of coal in the Australian parliament -- should be worried about what people think of him in towns like Cobargo. The constituency has swung between the Liberal party and its center-left Labor rival several times since the 1940s and is one of Australia's most reliable bellwether seats.
Most Australians want tougher action on climate change, according to the Australian Institute's Climate of the Nation survey. Some 81% of Australians are concerned that global warming will result in more droughts and flooding, while 64% think Australia should have a national target for net zero emissions by 2050.
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