The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that today is the hottest early September day in 159 years of records. The record has not just been broken, it has been broken by a full 1.6 degrees Celsius.

Bush fires, NSW 2013 ©Guardian

Bushfires are raging across the state, and while thankfully nobody has yet lost their lives, emergency services are stretched, roads are getting closed and families are getting anxious.

Let’s let that sink in for just a moment.

So what do we need to do?
* Keep an eye out for bushfires in your area at the RFS website. Have a bushfire plan, clear your gutters, and drink plenty of water.

* Leave out water bowls for animals. Just put them all over the place. Even if you don’t have a yard – pop some on your window sill, out the front of your building.

* Be ready to help out people who need support.

* Get absolutely furious at the industries and decision-makers that for decades have been doing everything they can to frustrate, delay and in some cases wind back action on climate change.

Some other useful things to do:

* Write on Commbank’s Facebook wall. They are Australia’s largest publicly listed company, have the worst climate policy of the big four banks and have financed more emissions in the last eighteen months by far than any other bank. They also stand to lose money from houses and other assets affected by bushfire, sea level rise and extreme weather.

*Write to your local MP and ask for a meeting. Ask them whether they will support including climate change in our national environment law and a ban on new coal mines.

*Write letters to your local newspaper and call talkback radio

*This morning a bunch of Greenpeace folk went to peacefully, dramatically and creatively demonstrate how PwC are in bed with the biggest blockers of climate action in the country, the Minerals Council.  Spread the word as far as you can!

And if none of those things seem to quite match the scale of the crisis we face, seek every opportunity to join, amplify and contribute to the rapidly growing disruptive movement for climate justice.

Stay safe everybody.