Megan McCubbin: ‘People that deny climate change are scared’

“There’s a lot of misinformation out there,” she said. “I think people that deny climate change and deny biodiversity loss are ultimately actually quite scared, and don’t know how to deal with the magnitude of the issue.

“(They say) ‘the climate has changed before, it always changes’, which is absolutely true – climate has changed significantly throughout Earth’s history, but it’s never changed as quickly as it is at the minute.

“And it’s all precipitated by human action – by humans burning fossil fuels and producing too many greenhouse gases and chopping down forests and everything else that we do.”

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Speaking to her own experiences witnessing the decline of certain species of wildlife and the impact of shifts in the global climate, McCubbin added: “I’ve seen animals that were there one year and gone the next. I’ve seen, first-hand , glacier retreat – I’ve been to the same place, the same glacier, and seen it disappearing.

“I would love to take somebody who was skeptical to a place where climate change was not just knocking on the door, but had bashed it down – take them to a place where wildfires have raged.

“I recognize how privileged I am to be able to have gone to those places, but they open your eyes to what’s happening, what’s changing, which is why I personally feel like it’s my duty, even if people aren’t listening, to shout a little bit louder, and make sure that they hear.”

McCubbin – who has also urged the media not to “sugarcoat” environmental issues – says that the solutions to help solve environmental issues are obvious, citing more investment in renewable energy and ‘rewilding’ to allow for natural forest regeneration and an increase in biodiversity.

“We know exactly how to fix this – we’ve known the solutions for a very long time. We’re sitting on them, we’ve got them ready to go, and as soon as the government decides it’s a good idea, or allocates a bit of funding to make sure it’s implemented, the solutions will be rolled out.”

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