Record-breaking Fires:
"In the worst-hit state, New South Wales (NSW), fire has affected more than five million hectares, destroying more than 2,000 houses and forcing thousands to seek shelter elsewhere.
More than 1,600 firefighters are currently working to slow the spread of fires and shore up containment lines.
Although Australia has always had bushfires, this season has been worse than usual.
The amount of land affected across the country - more than 10 million hectares - is now comparable to England's land area of 13 million hectares.The number of people killed as a result of the fires since September 2019 is higher than in recent years. Australia broke its all-time temperature record twice in December. An average maximum of 40.9C was recorded on 17 December, broken a day later by 41.9C, both beating 2013's record of 40.3C.
By the end of the month every state had measured temperatures above 40C - including Tasmania, which is usually much cooler than the mainland."[1]
"More than 16 million acres have gone up in flames. And it has happened in populated areas, unlike most of the world’s other blazes of this scale.
The modern world has never seen anything quite like these Australia fires.
About 16 million acres have burned in New South Wales and Victoria, where the crisis is centered. That’s an area about the size of West Virginia. Millions more acres have burned in other parts of the country.
What sets these blazes apart, in terms of their size, is that they are happening in populated areas. Until now, fires this large happened mostly in places like northern Canada or Siberia, where few people live and blazes burn largely uncontrolled. The losses Australia is experiencing in lives and property are still staggering, and not yet over. At least 29 people have been killed. Hundreds of millions of animals, by some estimates, have perished or are facing starvation or dehydration in devastated habitats. And more than 2,500 homes have been destroyed.
Smoke generated by the fires has blanketed Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, at times giving them some of the worst air in the world. The prolonged exposure of bushfire smoke to millions of people has raised fears of health effects that could last for years."[2]
"Over 2,000 homes have been destroyed and conditions are expected to worsen this weekend, with months left to go in a fire season that seems to get longer every year."[3]
NASA Information:
"The fire is causing distress beyond Australia’s borders, too. Smoke from the fires has blown eastward across the Tasman Sea, enveloping New Zealandand stretching across the Pacific Ocean to South America.
Invisible chemical compounds are traveling through the air across the Southern Hemisphere. An air pollution satellite run by the European Space Agency has detected increasing levels of carbon monoxide, which can poison people who inhale too much of it.
NASA’s satellites, which identify active hotspots by measuring their infrared emissions, have spotted far more fires this season than any since 2013."[4]
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Humans and Fauna killed:
"Some 25,000 koalas feared dead on an island being consumed by flames. Ten thousand feral camels expected to be shot and killed. And claims that a whopping one billion animals estimated to have perished across Australia.
These are a few of the numbers that have emerged in recent days to capture the toll of the extreme heat and raging fires on Australian animal life. They add to the already staggering scope of the fires, which have killed at least 24 people, destroyed more than 2,000 homes and scorched more than 15 million acres.
The figures tallying the mass death of Australian critters have ricocheted around the internet, causing apprehension and grief.
Experts in biodiversity have expressed alarm at the span of scorched earth in a mega diverse country that harbors between 600,000 to 700,000 species, many which are not found anywhere else in the world. But while they have raised alarm about the scale of destruction, in nearly every case, experts cautioned that it was still impossible to know exactly how many animals have died."[5]
"Bushfire death toll rises to 33 after body found in burnt-out house near Moruya. Police say they have found human remains at a burnt-out house near Moruya, a day after devastating fires once again tore through the NSW south coast."[6]
External Help / Helpers from all over the World:
"Three U.S. firefighters were killed Thursday in a plane crash battling wildfires in Australia, according to New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian. The identities of the American firefighters killed in the crash have not been disclosed. They are among around 200 U.S. firefighters who have been deployed in the last two months to battle the wildfires in Australia, according to The Telegraph."[7]
In addition, "a team of nine Israeli and two Australian volunteers with SmartAID were among the first to enter Australia’s Kangaroo Island two days ago to help locals affected by ongoing wildfires. The SmartAID team is working alongside the Australian army, firefighters and local nonprofit partner BlazeAid to clear the rubble of burned homes, help open access routes and assist farmers in rebuilding their livelihood."[8]
"As deadly bushfires continue to burn across Australia, a delegation of Canadian wildfire experts has embarked on a month-long trip to aid in the country's crisis.
The group of 21 wildfire suppression experts left Vancouver on Tuesday and are not expected to return until early January, meaning they will be thousands of miles away from home for the holidays.
The contingent is responding to calls for aid by Australia's National Council for Fire and Emergency Services, known as AFAC.Seven of the Canadian experts are from British Columbia's Wildfire Service and include two highly trained air tanker supervisors and a heavy equipment branch director."[9]
Bibliography Information:
- https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/11/world/australia/fires-animals.html
- https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/24/bushfires-death-toll-rises-to-33-after-body-found-in-burnt-out-house-near-moruya
- https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-50951043
- https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/21/world/australia/fires-size-climate.html
- https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/10/world/australia/bushfire.html
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/australia-fires/
- https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article239560753.html
- https://www.israel21c.org/new-israeli-aid-group-assisting-fire-victims-in-australia/
- https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/04/world/canada-firefighters-help-australia-bushfires-for-holidays-trnd/index.html
- ^ "A visual guide to Australia's bushfire crisis". BBC News. 2020-01-31. Retrieved 2020-04-06.
- ^ Tarabay, Jamie (2020-01-21). "Why These Australia Fires Are Like Nothing We've Seen Before". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-04-06.
- ^ Kwai, Isabella (2020-01-10). "What to Read on Australia's Bushfire Crisis". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-04-06.
- ^ "More than one million fires in Australia detected by satellites since September". Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-04-06.
- ^ Zaveri, Mihir; Rueb, Emily S. (2020-01-11). "How Many Animals Have Died in Australia's Wildfires?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-04-06.
- ^ Henriques-Gomes, Luke (2020-01-24). "Bushfires death toll rises to 33 after body found in burnt out house near Moruya". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-04-06.
- ^ "Three California Firefighters Die Battling Australia Wildfires".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Leichman, Abigail Klein (2020-01-20). "New Israeli aid group assists fire victims in Australia". Israel21c. Retrieved 2020-04-15.
- ^ CNN, Elizabeth Wolfe and Brian Ries. "Instead of being home for the holidays, Canadian firefighters head to Australia to battle wildfires". CNN. Retrieved 2020-04-15.
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