SAEED KHAN/AFP via Getty Images
Australia is in the middle of fighting one of the worst fire seasons it’s ever seen, caused by record-breaking temperatures and severe drought, coupled with high winds. There’s currently no weather forecast in sight with any rain at all to give any reprieve to these fires. This has been happening since September. (BBC)
Copernicus EMS
More than four million hectares have burned in New South Wales alone - one hectare is roughly the size of a sports field. To put that in perspective: some 900,000 hectares burned in the 2019 Amazon fires and around 800,000 hectares in 2018 in California. (1 Hectar = 2.47 miles)
20 people have been confirmed dead and many are missing. Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to evacuate, and nearly half a billion animals have died (including at least one third of the koala population). (BI)
Robert Oerlemans, via Associated Press
In three months, the fires have released an estimated 350 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. By comparison, the Amazon fires produced less than half of that at 140 million metric tons.
Air quality indexes over 200 are considered hazardous for health. The air quality index in parts of Australia have exceeded 999 during these fires. (Washington Post)
Climate change increases the likelihood, size, and frequency of wildfires, since warmer air sucks away moisture from trees and soil, leading to dryer land. Rising temperatures also make heat waves and droughts more frequent and severe, which exacerbates wildfire risk, since hot, parched forests are prone to burning.
via Reuters
The bush fire smoke has reached New Zealand, covering glaciers in brown ash, affecting the air quality, and turning the skies into an eery amber color. (Washington Post)
Matthew Abbott for The New York Times
How can you help?
I’ve shared links for places to donate below:
Fire Relief Fund for First Nations Communities
It’s also so important to SPREAD AWARENESS. One of the greatest challenges with climate change is its intangibility. The scope is just too large to grasp, and many of the most noticeable impacts are still too far removed from our daily lives. For some, climate change becomes either overwhelmingly challenging or abstract enough that it is easy to ignore. (Land Trust Alliance) If we communicate openly about what’s going on, it becomes easier to grasp and feel for something that you might not be seeing right in front of your face. This sparks change on so many different levels.