High temperatures and a prolonged drought have led to severe bushfires on the Australian continent in recent months. Many people and organizations are supporting the country in combating and rebuilding the devastated areas, including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, which is now donating all proceeds from the “Outback Relief” skin pack.
What is happening in Australia? Bushfires have been spreading in many areas of Australia for months, and the destruction is reaching unprecedented levels.
Bushfires are quite normal in Australia and even part of the vegetative development. For example, some plants use regular fires for reproduction.
However, persistently high temperatures and a long drought have led to extreme fires that simply cannot be brought under control. Many animals, towns, and people have already fallen victim to the large fires.
The images of destruction are going around the world, and many people and organizations want to support the helpers and victims on-site. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is also stepping in and donating the proceeds from the “Outback Relief” skin pack entirely for aid in Australia.
Infinity Ward donates revenue for Australia aid
What is this skin pack? The “Outback” skin pack, which was renamed to “Outback Relief” as part of the CoD donation campaign, offers comprehensive equipment for the operator “D-Day”.
- Skin pack “Outback Relief” for 1,800 CoD Points
- Skin for operator D-Day
- Weapon skin for the AX-50 sniper rifle
- Koala talisman
- A sticker for your weapons
- A calling card
- Operator catchphrase “Hungry”
- Execution move for D-Day
- 1 Tier jump for the battlepass
How does the donation work? Infinity Ward promises in a post on Twitter that all revenues from this pack until January 31, 2020, will go directly as aid to the affected regions.
If you purchase the pack before January 31, the money goes to Australia. If you purchased the pack earlier, these CoD points also count as a donation.
However, Infinity Ward has not yet provided information about which organization the donations are going to. Nor has it stated how much money is specifically intended as aid per pack.
Why are the bushfires so severe this year? Australia has been struggling for many years with the impacts of the worsening climate change. In our climate zone, this means that we can no longer have snowball fights due to rising temperatures.
However, the impact for Australia is significantly more severe.
Since October, the temperatures in the bushfire regions have been unusually high even by Australian standards. This is accompanied by a prolonged drought. The lack of rain has made the local vegetation an optimal fire accelerant and has led to the extreme bushfires.
Be cautious when donating
Where else can I donate? Money is always good, and there are enough reputable aid organizations that you can support.
If you have decided on an organization, you should still do a little research to see how reputable the companies really are.
Organizations that do not clearly state what the money will be used for should be avoided. Unfortunately, there are many bad apples that exploit the suffering of others and may only forward a small part of the donations to the affected regions.
Also, keep an eye on any fees associated with the donation. High fees can be a sign of a scam.
Anyone can help, even without money
What else can I do? Pay more attention to your lifestyle, avoid waste, unnecessary electricity consumption, and think about the consequences of your actions.
The high temperatures are a direct result of global climate change and affect each of us. Even small actions in everyday life can make a difference.
- Turn off your devices or exit the game when you won’t be at the computer/console for a few minutes
- Running games significantly increase the power consumption of devices, in the age of SSDs, you can often restart games or devices quickly and save quite a bit of power
- Eat less meat / ready-made food
- You don’t have to completely give up meat, but the cultivation of feed crops and grazing land for large livestock displaces many important forest areas around the world that keep carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere at a manageable level
- A lower demand for meat will eventually lead to lower prices, making meat producers think about whether it is worth managing another pasture
- Ready-made food usually comes with a lot of packaging and is therefore much more harmful to the environment than cooking yourself
- Throw away less food
- Be mindful when shopping about what you need and whether you can consume it at all.
- Food does not go bad immediately after the expiration date. Pay attention to your senses when determining if food has expired, and do not throw away a sealed yogurt container just because it is a few days over.
No one can do anything against global changes on their own. However, if we all start to pay a little more attention to our environment and lifestyle, we help not only the people and animals in Australia – but the entire Earth. We only have one.
What do you think about the donation campaigns that some companies are currently running? Have you ever donated?
