With more than a thousand buildings destroyed and 17 deaths since October, in addition to animals and flora lost or damaged, the fire season in Australia is one of the worst in its history, and that summer has just begun in this planetary region.
But it is not the only area affected. In recent years we have unfortunately seen other areas of the Earth burn with an unsuspected aggressiveness and duration. One of the most media and shocking cases is that of the Amazon jungle, affected by the fire, which in 2019 registered almost 60% more hot spots than the previous year. In the case of Australia, some ten million hectares have been burned during the recently closed year 2019, a figure that doubles compared to the last ten years (in 2009 four million five hundred thousand hectares were burned).
In recent weeks, tens of thousands of Australians have fled their homes as hundreds of fires break out on the southeastern coast of the continent. Thousands of firefighters are currently fighting the flames. Additionally, military ships and helicopters work to drop supplies and rescue people trapped along the shores. On the other hand, there are mandatory evacuations programs for some areas that, although they are not at risk, the Government fears that fires could break out in these areas as well.
But why is Australia burning? And above all: why does it continue to burn relentlessly despite mitigation efforts?
What factors are favoring the fires?
Wildfires in summer are common in Australia, but climate change is making them worse.
The scientific literature confirms this, and has been warning of the problem for years. This 2006 Science magazine study compiled a comprehensive database of large wildfires in the forests of the western United States since 1970 and compared it to hydroclimatic and land surface data. The data showed that wildfire activity increased suddenly and markedly in the mid-1980s , with increased frequency of large wildfires, longer wildfire durations, and longer wildfire seasons.
On January 2, the MIT Technology Review magazine published an article in which it explained what are the climatic factors that can lead to more aggressive and lasting fires in Australia.
First, the temperature: last year was the hottest and driest in Australia, and in summer new temperature records were set across the country, ravaged by brutal heat waves.
The MIT findings are supported by a 2018 report by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology that warned that there are now more days with “very high fire hazards” in this region of the planet: “Even as As temperatures rise, extreme heat events become more common and droughts become more severe, ”the report warned.
On the other hand, rainfall: Rain has decreased in recent decades, which has helped extend the fire season until spring.
Another factor is the forest area. Australia has 134 million hectares of forest, which is 17% of Australia’s land area. This percentage is relatively low, and turns this island-continent into a great desert (remember that the forest area of Spain is 36%).
However, Australia is so large that its forest area, in absolute terms, is still relevant. Globally, it is equivalent to about 3% of the world’s forest area , and it is the seventh largest forest area reported in any country.
800 million animals have died from the fires
Image: Matt Abbott
The consequences of the fires in Australia are being devastating for its fauna. According to Professor Chris Dickman of the University of Sydney, the death toll in New South Wales stands at 800 million with a total impact of one billion across the country.
According to Professor Dickman: “This means that a wide variety of wildlife, such as reptiles, mammals and birds, have been killed, injured or forced to flee.” Koalas have been particularly affected by the fires, which have already wiped out 30% of the koala population.
As we mentioned at the beginning of the article, the case of Australia is not isolated: the entire planet is in a delicate situation , and the consequences of changes in the climate are in every corner. As collected by The Conversation portal, other examples are the thousands of fires in Angola, the Congo and Brazil, the climate refugees in Louisiana, the floods in Florida and the American Midwest, the heat in India that raised temperatures until 50 ⁰C, and the “spring Christmas” that a good part of Europe has enjoyed.
Is it the fault of the politicians?
As The Conversation points out again, Australia has one of the highest per capita carbon dioxide emissions in the world. It was responsible for 1.1% of all global CO2 emissions between 1850 and 2002.
At present, Australians represent 0.3% of the world’s population but release 1.07% of the world’s greenhouse gases (three times as many emissions as Spaniards).
Like other countries, such as the United States, Brazil, Russia or Turkey, Australia is governed by political leaders who are climate change deniers , and form a bloc against the measures required by the United Nations Congregation against Climate Change ( UNFCCC). Like Donald Trump, its leaders have also joined in the ‘promise’ to abandon the Paris Agreement.
They will not commit to the necessary drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Despite the alerts from scientists. Despite the fact that human lives and natural and cultural heritage continue to be lost.
Helping Animals Affected in Australia’s Wildfires
