Australia's Devastating Bushfires Show No Signs Of Abating

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Fires across Australia as of January 6, 2020 (Credit NPR/Google Maps screenshot)

Though bushfires are a common occurrence in Australia during the summer, they have never been as devastating or as widespread as the ones currently burning across the country. Since September 2019, the blazes, fueled by dry foliage and strong winds, have scorched over 15.6 million acres (24,000 square miles) — an area larger than the state of West Virginia. Even worse, officials warn that Australia's wildfire season — which generally lasts through March — is nowhere near its end.

With over 130 active fires, 50 of which remain uncontrolled, New South Wales (NSW), Australia's most populous state has been particularly hard hit. The blazes have destroyed over 1588 homes, damaged 653 more, and killed 19 people and almost 500 million animals, including a third of NSW's koala colony, or about 8,000 bears. Nature Conservation Council ecologist Mark Graham told the Australian parliament: “[Koalas] really have no capacity to move fast enough to get away [from the flames]." Rescue workers have also reported seeing kangaroos trying to escape the massive walls of fire and cockatoos falling dead from trees.

The Australian fires have burned through millions of acres since September 2019 (Credit Statista/CC-SA-20)

The fires have also severely impacted the wildlife on Kangaroo Island off the country's southern coast. Among the hardest hit are critically-endangered small marsupials called dunnarts, a species whose 300 remaining members are all believed to have perished, as have about half of the island's 50,000 koala bears.

"The fires have also been devastating for Australia’s wildlife and wild places, as vital areas of bush, forests, and parks have been scorched and many millions of animals killed or injured," Dr. Stuart Blanch, senior manager of land clearing and restoration with World Wildlife Fund-Australia, told ABC News. "Until the fires subside, the full extent of damage will remain unknown."

The fires may have eliminated all of the critically-endangered dunnarts (Credit: theconversation.com)

Experts estimate that the bushfires have released 350 million tons of carbon dioxide, or about two-thirds of the nations' annual emissions, in just the past three months. Dr. Pep Canadell, a senior research scientist for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the executive director of the Global Carbon Project, believes that due to the slow regrowth rates in Australian forests between bushfires, it could take 100 years for the carbon to be absorbed.

"We used to see hundreds of thousands of hectares burned in bushfires, but now we are seeing millions on fire," he said. "It is drying in south-east Australia, that prompts the question if these trees will be able to bring all that carbon back [into regrowth]. We may need more than 100 years to get back to where we were after those mature forests with beautiful tall gum trees have burned."

Bear, a cattle dog crossbreed, has been helping rescuers seek out injured koala bears since November 2019 (Credit: YouTube screen capture)

Australia's plight has not gone unnoticed. Since November 2019, firefighters from New Zealand, the USA, and Canada have been working tirelessly alongside their Australian counterparts to help curtail the fires' spread. People across the world, including celebrities like Australian actors Nicole Kidman and Chris Hemsworth, are donating large sums of money to help the recovery efforts. At the request of the Animal Rescue Craft Guild, hundreds of volunteers from the US, the UK, Hong Kong, France, and Germany are busy knitting bat wraps, joey pouches, birds nests, possum boxes, koala mittens, and other items for animals injured and rendered homeless by the blazes.

Humans are not the only ones pitching in. Bear, a cattle dog crossbreed trained to detect live koalas through the scent of their fur, has been scouting fire-ravaged areas for the past three months in search of the marsupials. Though the animals can survive for weeks after a fire, they often lay camouflaged high in the treetops, making it difficult for humans to detect them.

#StaystrongAustralia!

Resources: www.ifaw.org, NPR.org, independent.co.uk, CNN.com

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450 Comments
  • snakeale
    snakealeover 4 years
    yes so sad );
    • rch9
      rch9over 4 years
      The world is really losing it. First wildfires, then unpeaceful protests, and COVID19 has messed up our lives now we can't go anywhere without wearing masks. Before all this happened we weren't wearing masks and we were doing just fine no one got COVID19. I thought 2020 was going to be different but it just keeps getting worse. I hope next year would be good. We deserve at least one good year i mean come on man.
      • pusheenicorn
        pusheenicornalmost 4 years
        2021 is soon. hopefully COVID-19 will be over by then. 😬
        • skilledfox073
          skilledfox073about 4 years
          Yes. But next time separate all the bad things. That takes out some stress
          • blushie_mistie
            blushie_mistieover 4 years
            Exactly, the years before this were pretty bad, but 2020 is the worst year we´ve had. Can´t we just get a good year for once? Maybe 2021 will be somewhat better.
        • rch9
          rch9over 4 years
          aww poor kolas
          • smartjerry238
            smartjerry238over 4 years
            So sad!
            • janan10
              janan10over 4 years
              WoW sad 😢
              • imunicornlover1
                imunicornlover1over 4 years
                That's so sad! I hope it is over by now!!!!! :(
                • miss_amelia
                  miss_ameliaover 4 years
                  That's really horrible! I hope all the animals survive, not pointing out any that should die, I hope everyone and their homes are okay! I will pray for them that they're ok
                  • nautilus
                    nautilusover 4 years
                    this is the most read article of the year
                  • cr4td4l
                    cr4td4lover 4 years
                    No not the cats and WOLVES
                  • gamer_555
                    gamer_555over 4 years
                    #savetheinnocentanimals