You must have heard of the recent severe bushfires, especially in Australia. Here are things to know about serious wildfires in Australia
Fire Season – Wildfires In Australia
Fires in the summer are extremely common in some regions of Australia. It happens every year. You could even say that it’s the natural weather pattern. The fire season peaks in late January and February. When it happens, generally. the firefighters don’t try and put out the fire. Instead, they let it burn in a controlled manner. Because it’s extremely important for the fire to stay alight as it’s a part of the ecosystem.
The natural environment stays in great shape because of this fire season. We cannot control the weather but we can manage the accumulation of flammable vegetation. We can do this by prescribed burning. It’s pretty much the same way Aboriginal people managed the bushland for thousands of years. The prescribed burning program is not harmful to plants and animals. And in fact, is beneficial to them.
2019 Grossly Uncontrolled Wildfire
However, the wildfire that happened in 2019 was grossly uncontrolled. This time, the fault wasn’t on firefighters. It’s because of climate change.
2019 has been the driest and hottest year in Australia’s history. There was destruction on an unprecedented scale. Around 500 million to 1 billion animals have perished. Koalas used to be a very common animal in Australia but these fires have affected its population so much that they could now be on the endangered list. 18 million hectares have been burnt to ashes in this fire.
Wildfire’s Severe Effects – Wildfires In Australia
Wildfire not only affects Australia itself, but it also affects many other countries.
There was economic damage of around 4.4 billion dollars due to this wildfire. The air carried a massive amount of smoke that broke out on such a large scale and caused air pollution in many cities around the world. The glaciers in New Zealand have turned yellow because of the smoke. Its affection could even be visible in India.
What Did The Australian Government Do?
Instead of trying their best to solve the problem, the Australian government didn’t seem to take it seriously.
Scott Morrison, Australia’s Prime Minister at that time, even still wanted to promote coal energy. The negative impact of coal and coal mining on the environment is beyond debate. And mining has certainly affected Australia’s climate, making up for severe wildfires. He knew it but didn’t take any action against it.
In contrast, he was approving projects such as the Adani coal mines in the Great Barrier Reef. It sure causes ecologically dangerous for this site. Besides that, it would also increase carbon emissions and aggravate climate change.
For your information, Australia is the world’s largest coal exporter in the world. It’s also the world’s second-largest carbon emissions per capita.
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