Commentary: In Australia's raging bushfires, a climate change warning to its leaders — and ours

With more than 14 million acres in Australia blackened by bushfires, climate change is a glaring threat to Australians - and to the standing of their prime minister, Scott Morrison.

Distressed residents in fire-ravaged towns have rebuffed his handshakes and heckled his entourage. The nation's capital, Canberra, rang in 2020 with the world's worst air quality. Beach evacuations of stranded residents cornered between flames and sea now rank as Australia's largest-ever peacetime maritime rescue operation.

U.S. firefighters feel kinship with their Australian brothers and sisters, and more than