Australia is on fire! and it’s bigger than we think! 12.35 million acres of land have been burnt by bushfire so far! that’s almost twice the size of Belgium and three times more land in the 2018 California fires and Brazil’s 2019 Amazon fire combined. Flames have reportedly reached a 70 meters high that’s taller than the Sydney Opera House. At least 19 people have been killed and more than 1,400 homes have been destroyed. Residents and tourists have been forced to relocate. Nearly 500 million animals have died in New South Wales alone.
The fires aren’t just in one location, they’re raging everywhere across the country so what ignited this deadly crisis?
While bushfire season is nothing new in Australia, but this summer has been one of the hottest and driest in the country’s history. Since September the combination of droughts unprecedented heat waves and strong gusty winds has created a recipe for a disaster recipe conditions. On top of that, the smoke from bush fires generates its own weather sparking thunderstorms with lightning and strong winds, which create even more wildfires. Scientists have been predicting such extreme weather for years, warning that bush fires will become even more frequent as climate change worsens. Although the weather has cooled slightly in parts of Australia authorities say with months of summer left the worst is yet to come.
