September 2019 was the beginning of a natural disaster for the Australian continent that affected not only humanity but also the environment. Mass fires continued for almost six months on the territory of the country, which destroyed the region, commensurate with the area of some European countries. In a few months, the fires became visible even from space – satellites, together with the fire, could distinguish a plume of smoke that reached New Zealand. The purpose of this essay is to analyze the consequences that occurred after the Australian fire of 2019-2020.
Natural fires are quite typical for tropical and subtropical climate zones. However, Australia’s unusually early and intense season of fires was caused by record heat and drought for several years (Nolan et al., 2020). The fire was triggered by human-induced climate change, from which Australia is particularly hard hit. In December, the situation reached catastrophic proportions: in addition to the high temperatures, there were strong gusts of wind, which only helped to spread the fire. This situation has been detrimental to human communities, with studies pointing to increased inflammation in residents (Main et al., 2020). First, the Health Department of the region recommended that residents and visitors should not leave their homes, and later, a large-scale evacuation of the population from danger zones was organized (Nolan et al., 2020). If settlements were not covered by fire, they were almost certainly left uninhabited and cut off from infrastructure.
Forest fires had a devastating effect on natural ecosystems on and off the continent. Australia has the world’s fourth-largest forest area with high biodiversity value because of its geographical isolation (Jager & Coutant, 2020). These areas are particularly important for animals that live only in unique forest ecosystems, such as koalas and rocky tail kangaroos. Environmentalists at the University of Sydney have estimated that over a billion animals have been killed since September (More than one billion animals killed, 2020). The damage is likely to be irreparable, as entire species could have been destroyed.
Australian fires have demonstrated the global impact of fire on meteorological conditions. Air pollution levels in Canberra exceeded the critical point by a factor of 26 (Bladen, 2020). Against the backdrop of forest fires, however, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology named 17 December 2019 the hottest day ever, with temperatures reaching 40.9 ºC and evenings reaching 41.9 ºC (Bureau of Meteorology, 2019). Given the global nature of the event, not only Australia’s domestic forces were mobilized to fight the fire, but also humanitarian support from around the world.
The likelihood of increased budget spending after the fires stopped has undoubtedly increased and will continue to grow as the consequences of these fires put pressure on the economy. As Bloomberg writes, the effects of forest fires could slow GDP growth by 0.5% (Johnson, 2020). In this case, the direct impact on the economy will amount 3.5 billion dollars. In addition, smoke from fires, which caused tourists and locals to reduce their holidays, is going to cost even more. The country’s administration will not only have to revise its economic policy in case of emergency but also to adjust the work of stopped processes.
The situation was able to show Australians and the world that the devastating problem of forest fires is not abstract, but real. While previously, there had been people who believed that territorial fires had no global effect, the Australian fire had reassured them. It demonstrated how destructive the human impact on the planet could be to nature, ordinary people, and the economic and political system. Even though in January 2020 Australia received a lifeline as continuing rains, both it and the rest of the planet should seriously consider the future.
References
Bladen, L. (2020). Canberra set for another day of above hazardous air quality. The Canberra Times. Web.
Bureau of Meteorology [@BOM_au]. (2019). Preliminary results suggest that the 17th December was Australia’s hottest day on record at 40.9 ºC . Twitter. Web.
Jager, H. I., & Coutant, C. C. (2020). Knitting while Australia burns.Nature Climate Change, 10(3), 170-170. Web.
Johnson, E. (2020). Australia’s wildfire crisis: Key numbers behind the disaster. Bloomberg. Web.
Main, L. C. et al. (2020). Firefighter’s acute inflammatory response to wildfire suppression. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 62(2), 145-148. Web.
More than one billion animals killed in Australian bushfires.(2020). Web.
Nolan, R. H. et al. (2020). Causes and consequences of eastern Australia’s 2019-20 season of mega-fires. Global change biology, 26(1), 1039-1041. Web.