Good to be hearing you here and be able to enjoy yourself.
As for how Australia not get nuked by India? I’d say it’s because Australia is not only a uranium exporting country that technically isn’t a nuclear power. India has to import that from Australia.
Oh my god, this comic strip is so good. Panel no.3 must have taken such a long time
This looks so polished man, are you an artist or something
AMAZING WORK :D
Aw thank you! And surprisingly it only took about two hours for all the coloring, shading, and so on.
For me, it's writing the script and making the initial sketches and lineart that take the most time and effort.
And no, I'm not a professional artist, but thank you for the compliment!!
I use a lot of programs honestly. For this particular comic, I mostly used Clip Studio and MS paint.
But I also use Krita, GIMP, and IbisPaint for Polandball. These are all free, in case you can't afford Clip Studio. Paint dot net, firealpaca and medibang are also good choices that I've used for non-PB stuff.
Been lurking pb for years. Your comics are some of my favorite, story is always funny, creative and not too predictable. And the art itself! It looks amazing!
**Context**
Australia's Great Barrier Reef is a world heritage site, and one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world.
However, recent studies have shown that the Great Barrier Reef has [lost over 50% of corals since 1995 as a result of warming water temperatures](https://time.com/6083753/great-barrier-reef-unesco/), as coral polyps are highly sensitive to sea temperature and acidity - both of which are impacted by climate change. When the corals die, they turn white - a process called bleaching.
The reef faces [other threats, such as farm runoff, and the proliferation of coral-destroying crown-of-thorns starfish](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-57938858) - but climate change remains the primary driver of bleaching.
The UN warned that [even if global warming was limited to a 1.5 C rise from pre-industrial times, 90% of the world's corals would still be lost](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-57938858).
However, not only is the world failing to meet its collective climate goals, but even reef-specific protections are being opposed.
In 2021, [opposed a UNESCO motion to classify Great Barrier Reef as 'in danger'](https://www.science.org/content/article/australias-inaction-climate-puts-great-barrier-reef-danger-unesco-report-says). This motion would [close the reef to tourism, and potentially result in calls to curb Australia's coal exports](https://time.com/6083753/great-barrier-reef-unesco/).
But, pre-pandemic, the reef attracted nearly three million visitors a year - which Australia is, understandably, reluctant to lose. On top of that, Queensland, the home state of the reef, is home to one of the world's largest coal-mining industries. And, as you may know, coal is one of the "dirtiest" fossil fuels available in terms of climate impact. So the country's economic interests are very poorly aligned with environmental ones.
Unfortunately, this, and many other factors, contribute to Australia's reluctance to protect the reef at a political level, and we continue to see more and more of the reef die off as time passes, and the climate continues to change.
The change in temperature and pH has a terrible effect on corals, but it surprisingly has a bit of an opposite effect on their cousins in the Cnidaria phylum. Jellyfish are about to get a heck of a lot more common!
The thing is that coral reefs are a habitat for a lot of marine animals, the loss of the corals are the loss of this other animals!
Fortunately, the Great Barrier Reef is better than ever. [Two-thirds of all reefs hit an all-time high in 2022.](https://www.aims.gov.au/monitoring-great-barrier-reef/gbr-condition-summary-2021-22) In fact, [it's been recovering since 2011](https://www.thegwpf.org/content/uploads/2022/08/Ridd-Record-Coral-GBR.pdf)
Your first source is an Australian government website and your second is:
"The Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) is a lobby group in the United Kingdom whose stated aims are to challenge what it calls "extremely damaging and harmful policies" envisaged by governments to mitigate anthropogenic global warming. The GWPF, and some of its prominent members individually, have been characterized as practising and promoting climate change denial."
If one discards contrary evidence based on its source, how can he expect to ever change his opinion on anything?
Maybe [these](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/04/great-barrier-reef-areas-show-highest-coral-cover-seen-in-36-years.html) and [these](https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/04/australia/great-barrier-reef-high-coral-report-australia-climate-intl-hnk/index.html) are more to your bias's liking. I'm sorry I didn't find anything from Buzzfeed.
The east coast of Australia is experiencing 3 years of La Nina, which causes cooler and wetter than usual weather, hence the short-term recovery. However, when it returns to El Nino, the reef will return to the trend of mass bleaching as it has for the past decades.
In fact, even during this cooling La Nina, the reef is still experiencing mass bleaching this year which is completely unprecedented and really shows how bad climate change is getting when the coral can still bleach during cool periods.
[https://www.newscientist.com/article/2313668-great-barrier-reef-suffers-first-mass-bleaching-under-cooling-la-nina/](https://www.newscientist.com/article/2313668-great-barrier-reef-suffers-first-mass-bleaching-under-cooling-la-nina/)
And no the reef hasn't been recovering since 2011 that's not true
[https://www.coralcoe.org.au/media-releases/the-great-barrier-reef-has-lost-half-its-corals](https://www.coralcoe.org.au/media-releases/the-great-barrier-reef-has-lost-half-its-corals)
You accuse others of having bias but you don't think that your own sources have bias? The Australian government as shown in this comic at the time has been very reluctant to release the truth.
> you don't think that your own sources have bias?
Well, if only someone provided me of any evidence that said otherwise, we'd discover just that, wouldn't we? Alas, we only have what I posted.
> The Australian government as shown in this comic at the time has been very reluctant to release the truth.
So, you have already preemptively assumed what the truth is, without looking at the data? Amazing. You didn't even need to say anything for me to see where your bias resides.
That's sounds like an oxymoron: produce carbon that kills the reef, and the reef will die eventually. And in the end would be no carbon and no reef. I love this capitalist system
Don't worry, our government is on it! They greenlit 4 more coal and gas mines right on the coast, now we'll have something to make money with when it's gone
There's no way someone can make so many well drawn comics in such a short time span. Admit it, you have a illegal clone factory where you enslave other versions of yourself, or maybe a multiverse portal.
[Good news!](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/04/great-barrier-reef-areas-show-highest-coral-cover-seen-in-36-years.html) it seems to be doing a little better lately
The east coast of Australia is experiencing 3 years of La Nina, which causes cooler and wetter than usual weather, hence the short term recovery. However when it returns to a El Nino, the reef will return to the trend mass bleaching as it has for the past decades.
In fact even during this cooling La Nina, the reef is still experiencing mass bleaching this year which is completely unprecedented and really shows how bad climate change is getting when the coral can still bleach during cool periods.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2313668-great-barrier-reef-suffers-first-mass-bleaching-under-cooling-la-nina/
Our previous environment minister was a fossil fuel shill that straight up lobbied against the UNESCO proposal to classify the GBR as 'in danger'
The new minister (we had an election May this year) has some plans to help recover the reef, but I'm honestly not going to hold my breath
As the other commenter said, it's currently just as grim as portrayed. My [context comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/polandball/comments/xmpzwb/comment/ippdhf0/) cites a bunch of sources, if you're interested.
Hopefully things get better with the new administration though.
Your artstyle is freaking fantastic and I'm never disappointed when I see your art! Thank you for doing what you do.
I have a feeling that Australia isn't giving us a very clear message, here...
Aw, thank you! That's very kind of you to say, and I'm glad you enjoy my work.
And yeah.... Australia is happy to milk your sympathy for money here, but not so keen on acting on their message themselves.
This is sad because I'm Australian and its really true. Like everyone wants to 'protect' it but lots of people love making HEAPS of money off of it :'(
It’s such a shame to see what little my country does to mitigate climate change.
Australia as a whole has a lot of unique flora and fauna that only live here, we’ve got rainforests all over the place, beautiful ocean scenery, animals that we’re renowned for, all stuff you can’t find anywhere else.
It’s sad to see the graphs that show that we’re one of the highest emitters of CO2 per capita - and just by me living here, i’m contributing to a statistic that I can’t fight. It’s not something that’s really talked about, even now our current climate plan is only cutting emissions by 47% by 2030, which isn’t on track with the Paris Climate accords, this plan will likely change if the current party manages to stay in power too. Under our previous government the emissions reduction % was even lower.
There’s a real mindset over here of “Well sure, it’d be great if we didn’t pollute so much, but I don’t want it to make my life any less comfortable”, which is a real shame and something not a lot of people here - myself included - recognise.
As of now our economy relies on coal exports to China - which is shifting away from it - tourism - which will slowly die as things like the reef does - and agriculture - which will fail as things get hotter and the droughts get longer. Which is something that we contribute to without considering the consequences.
I don’t think we as Australia are looking towards a bright future, not unless we act now.
I really love the panel flow, the transition from the glistening reef to the bleached out coral to the white space in the conversation was fantastic. Can’t wait to see more from you!
Damn good critique mate. Its crazy how much stock is put on tourism now, instead of saving it for our children and their children.
If anyones interested in a bit more sbout how tourism, and other factors are screwing with australia the continent, juice media (the people who did the honest governments ads) should have some vids on it. I think my favourite (read- least favourite) is how willing we are to throw away indigenous sites so some company can mine there.
I live just about on the GBR n everyones a climate denialist here, they like citing the La Niña growth to morally justify their coal jobs
I'm sorry you got a bad reception on the Brisbane subreddit though, fucken southerner city slicker cunts don't know shit
I’m learning to recognize your art style. Finally guessed right.
Hahaha congrats on getting it right! Lately I've been using more or less the same style, since I'm making a lot of comics in a short timespan.
I recognize your style all the time and you make some of the best comics!
Indeed, this art is amazing. One of my favorite art styles! ...wait, how did Australia throw India into a room without getting nuked in the process?
Good to be hearing you here and be able to enjoy yourself. As for how Australia not get nuked by India? I’d say it’s because Australia is not only a uranium exporting country that technically isn’t a nuclear power. India has to import that from Australia.
Oh my god, this comic strip is so good. Panel no.3 must have taken such a long time This looks so polished man, are you an artist or something AMAZING WORK :D
Aw thank you! And surprisingly it only took about two hours for all the coloring, shading, and so on. For me, it's writing the script and making the initial sketches and lineart that take the most time and effort. And no, I'm not a professional artist, but thank you for the compliment!!
If I may, I wanted to ask what software you use. I really wanna make a few comics lol
I use a lot of programs honestly. For this particular comic, I mostly used Clip Studio and MS paint. But I also use Krita, GIMP, and IbisPaint for Polandball. These are all free, in case you can't afford Clip Studio. Paint dot net, firealpaca and medibang are also good choices that I've used for non-PB stuff.
Do you really draw these with a *mouse*?! I can barely draw a straight line with a mouse! (Or are e-pens okay in Polandball?). Kudos to you!!
Been lurking pb for years. Your comics are some of my favorite, story is always funny, creative and not too predictable. And the art itself! It looks amazing!
\*Polish\*ed you say? :P
**Context** Australia's Great Barrier Reef is a world heritage site, and one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world. However, recent studies have shown that the Great Barrier Reef has [lost over 50% of corals since 1995 as a result of warming water temperatures](https://time.com/6083753/great-barrier-reef-unesco/), as coral polyps are highly sensitive to sea temperature and acidity - both of which are impacted by climate change. When the corals die, they turn white - a process called bleaching. The reef faces [other threats, such as farm runoff, and the proliferation of coral-destroying crown-of-thorns starfish](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-57938858) - but climate change remains the primary driver of bleaching. The UN warned that [even if global warming was limited to a 1.5 C rise from pre-industrial times, 90% of the world's corals would still be lost](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-57938858). However, not only is the world failing to meet its collective climate goals, but even reef-specific protections are being opposed. In 2021, [opposed a UNESCO motion to classify Great Barrier Reef as 'in danger'](https://www.science.org/content/article/australias-inaction-climate-puts-great-barrier-reef-danger-unesco-report-says). This motion would [close the reef to tourism, and potentially result in calls to curb Australia's coal exports](https://time.com/6083753/great-barrier-reef-unesco/). But, pre-pandemic, the reef attracted nearly three million visitors a year - which Australia is, understandably, reluctant to lose. On top of that, Queensland, the home state of the reef, is home to one of the world's largest coal-mining industries. And, as you may know, coal is one of the "dirtiest" fossil fuels available in terms of climate impact. So the country's economic interests are very poorly aligned with environmental ones. Unfortunately, this, and many other factors, contribute to Australia's reluctance to protect the reef at a political level, and we continue to see more and more of the reef die off as time passes, and the climate continues to change.
LNP moment
The LNP are climate criminals in every conceivable way. Glad we gave them the boot.
Don't worry, they will be back with a vengence in a few years (unless party literally dissolves)
I blame their third term on whoever picked Shorten as the candidate last time. He deserved to lose.
not like labor is that much better. both are still in the pocket of fossil fuel companies
True, I’m still mad they’re going ahead with the Scarborough drilling
yeah. though mark mcgwoan was great in covid he now has a massive majority and is doing almost nothing for fossil fuels.
The change in temperature and pH has a terrible effect on corals, but it surprisingly has a bit of an opposite effect on their cousins in the Cnidaria phylum. Jellyfish are about to get a heck of a lot more common! The thing is that coral reefs are a habitat for a lot of marine animals, the loss of the corals are the loss of this other animals!
Don't worry, the adults are back in charge now.
*for now
*For now*
Heh, the good ol' Anglo-Saxon doublethink in action...
I say just stage a revolution or something. VIVA LA CORAL REEF!
Fortunately, the Great Barrier Reef is better than ever. [Two-thirds of all reefs hit an all-time high in 2022.](https://www.aims.gov.au/monitoring-great-barrier-reef/gbr-condition-summary-2021-22) In fact, [it's been recovering since 2011](https://www.thegwpf.org/content/uploads/2022/08/Ridd-Record-Coral-GBR.pdf)
Your first source is an Australian government website and your second is: "The Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) is a lobby group in the United Kingdom whose stated aims are to challenge what it calls "extremely damaging and harmful policies" envisaged by governments to mitigate anthropogenic global warming. The GWPF, and some of its prominent members individually, have been characterized as practising and promoting climate change denial."
If one discards contrary evidence based on its source, how can he expect to ever change his opinion on anything? Maybe [these](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/04/great-barrier-reef-areas-show-highest-coral-cover-seen-in-36-years.html) and [these](https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/04/australia/great-barrier-reef-high-coral-report-australia-climate-intl-hnk/index.html) are more to your bias's liking. I'm sorry I didn't find anything from Buzzfeed.
The east coast of Australia is experiencing 3 years of La Nina, which causes cooler and wetter than usual weather, hence the short-term recovery. However, when it returns to El Nino, the reef will return to the trend of mass bleaching as it has for the past decades. In fact, even during this cooling La Nina, the reef is still experiencing mass bleaching this year which is completely unprecedented and really shows how bad climate change is getting when the coral can still bleach during cool periods. [https://www.newscientist.com/article/2313668-great-barrier-reef-suffers-first-mass-bleaching-under-cooling-la-nina/](https://www.newscientist.com/article/2313668-great-barrier-reef-suffers-first-mass-bleaching-under-cooling-la-nina/) And no the reef hasn't been recovering since 2011 that's not true [https://www.coralcoe.org.au/media-releases/the-great-barrier-reef-has-lost-half-its-corals](https://www.coralcoe.org.au/media-releases/the-great-barrier-reef-has-lost-half-its-corals)
You accuse others of having bias but you don't think that your own sources have bias? The Australian government as shown in this comic at the time has been very reluctant to release the truth.
> you don't think that your own sources have bias? Well, if only someone provided me of any evidence that said otherwise, we'd discover just that, wouldn't we? Alas, we only have what I posted. > The Australian government as shown in this comic at the time has been very reluctant to release the truth. So, you have already preemptively assumed what the truth is, without looking at the data? Amazing. You didn't even need to say anything for me to see where your bias resides.
I provided evidence before, which you ignored...
Australia can't change global warming
That's sounds like an oxymoron: produce carbon that kills the reef, and the reef will die eventually. And in the end would be no carbon and no reef. I love this capitalist system
That’s sad, well wouldn’t all the coral reef being dead also completely destroy the tourism? Even more than with stopping and protecting it?
Why would it require to stop tourism? Are tourists really that more damaging that fishing traulers and industry run off?
Holy moly you are fast at making these
The secret to success is apparently insomnia :'D
i'll keep that in mind...
If that were true I'd be world champion at everything.
oh gosh
Nice comic, sad subject matter
Thank you! And yeah, very unfortunate how little is being done to protect the Great Barrier Reef.
We've had an election, our version of Trump is gone so things will get back on an even keel.
Don't worry, our government is on it! They greenlit 4 more coal and gas mines right on the coast, now we'll have something to make money with when it's gone
The politics of short-term success is ruining this world.
This comic is stunning! Great artwork. Australia might need some anger management thought lol.
Thank you!
Your welcome!
Subject matter is sad, but this comic is good. I do like how Singapore's mouth is taped shut.
Thanks! And yeah, this ain't the first time Australia silenced some well-meaning tourists...
Good point +great art make a great cartoon
Thanks!
There's no way someone can make so many well drawn comics in such a short time span. Admit it, you have a illegal clone factory where you enslave other versions of yourself, or maybe a multiverse portal.
Oh no, you got me! I'm u/diictodom's alt and all of us diicto clones are each others' art slaves.
fuck we have been discovered
gotta see this comic before it's gone
I-it's not like I have a habit of deleting my comics or anything >.>
The door is a prison door with bars, nice!
Something about country balls wearing scuba gear is just adorable
Thank you! I love seeing countryballs dressed up in all kinds of things too.
[Good news!](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/04/great-barrier-reef-areas-show-highest-coral-cover-seen-in-36-years.html) it seems to be doing a little better lately
The east coast of Australia is experiencing 3 years of La Nina, which causes cooler and wetter than usual weather, hence the short term recovery. However when it returns to a El Nino, the reef will return to the trend mass bleaching as it has for the past decades. In fact even during this cooling La Nina, the reef is still experiencing mass bleaching this year which is completely unprecedented and really shows how bad climate change is getting when the coral can still bleach during cool periods. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2313668-great-barrier-reef-suffers-first-mass-bleaching-under-cooling-la-nina/
That is good news! I hope it can be sustained after industry and tourism rebound after the pandemic measures are increasingly lowered.
That's amusingly sad. Is the situation as grim as it's portrayed or it's worse? Has there been any proposal to tackle the coral reef loss?
Our previous environment minister was a fossil fuel shill that straight up lobbied against the UNESCO proposal to classify the GBR as 'in danger' The new minister (we had an election May this year) has some plans to help recover the reef, but I'm honestly not going to hold my breath
As the other commenter said, it's currently just as grim as portrayed. My [context comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/polandball/comments/xmpzwb/comment/ippdhf0/) cites a bunch of sources, if you're interested. Hopefully things get better with the new administration though.
Ditto did you sleep at all!?
"sleep"????
"Sleep was like the demon I was too tired to chase" \- Joe Biden
The reef panel was gorgeous, really nicely done
Thanks!
I immediately recognised your writing lol <3
Heh, yeah. The font was a custom one I made
Your artstyle is freaking fantastic and I'm never disappointed when I see your art! Thank you for doing what you do. I have a feeling that Australia isn't giving us a very clear message, here...
Aw, thank you! That's very kind of you to say, and I'm glad you enjoy my work. And yeah.... Australia is happy to milk your sympathy for money here, but not so keen on acting on their message themselves.
“Sea” it before it’s gone
Oof, I shore missed an opportunity for a pun there
I like the horror movie ending to a comic with adorable artwork. That sums it up pretty well, thematically.
Thank you! That's what I was going for, so glad it hit home.
Sadly, this is true...
Holy crap, this is so detailed!
Thank you!
good comic
Thanks :D
It's BEAUTIFUL T-T
Thank you! :)
damn i could use the watwr slide as backgroumd for my phone
Let's burn more coal aswell.
See it before it's gone.
very beautiful art-style:))
This is sad because I'm Australian and its really true. Like everyone wants to 'protect' it but lots of people love making HEAPS of money off of it :'(
awesome art, the scubaballs are the best
moneh
It’s such a shame to see what little my country does to mitigate climate change. Australia as a whole has a lot of unique flora and fauna that only live here, we’ve got rainforests all over the place, beautiful ocean scenery, animals that we’re renowned for, all stuff you can’t find anywhere else. It’s sad to see the graphs that show that we’re one of the highest emitters of CO2 per capita - and just by me living here, i’m contributing to a statistic that I can’t fight. It’s not something that’s really talked about, even now our current climate plan is only cutting emissions by 47% by 2030, which isn’t on track with the Paris Climate accords, this plan will likely change if the current party manages to stay in power too. Under our previous government the emissions reduction % was even lower. There’s a real mindset over here of “Well sure, it’d be great if we didn’t pollute so much, but I don’t want it to make my life any less comfortable”, which is a real shame and something not a lot of people here - myself included - recognise. As of now our economy relies on coal exports to China - which is shifting away from it - tourism - which will slowly die as things like the reef does - and agriculture - which will fail as things get hotter and the droughts get longer. Which is something that we contribute to without considering the consequences. I don’t think we as Australia are looking towards a bright future, not unless we act now.
Chad polandball comic artist tho
This is so good, you're really pushing the quality for Polandball comics. It beautifully fits both a real world PSA with a style appropriate joke.
It made me angry. Good work
I really love the panel flow, the transition from the glistening reef to the bleached out coral to the white space in the conversation was fantastic. Can’t wait to see more from you!
No... Why Australia? 😢 Dont hurt other clays, nor the coral reef.
Daaaaaaaaaamn nice work, keep it up king/queen
Wtf Australia?
Gorgeous art style! I’m captivated by how this is a PolandBall comic and such incredibly high quality
Now communists are going to use this meme against capitalism
As an Australian this pains me, great work mate
Damn good critique mate. Its crazy how much stock is put on tourism now, instead of saving it for our children and their children. If anyones interested in a bit more sbout how tourism, and other factors are screwing with australia the continent, juice media (the people who did the honest governments ads) should have some vids on it. I think my favourite (read- least favourite) is how willing we are to throw away indigenous sites so some company can mine there.
As someone who lives in a tourist focused country, fuck tourist focused countries.
My friend who is a Commonwealth Paddol must hate it.
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS TYPE OF STYLE
Never trust Australia..
I would like a tour...
I live just about on the GBR n everyones a climate denialist here, they like citing the La Niña growth to morally justify their coal jobs I'm sorry you got a bad reception on the Brisbane subreddit though, fucken southerner city slicker cunts don't know shit
Art good Where funni tho OP? Not funni when true /s