Nuked The Verge will update this page with news and analysis as the fires rage. Australia is bracing for things to get worse after an already devastating start to its fire season.
Dozens of fires erupted in New South Wales, Australia in November. At least 18 people are dead, including at least three volunteer firefighters. More than 1,000 houses have been destroyed, hundreds more damaged.
Australia’s capital recorded the worst pollution it’s ever seen. Smoke creeped into birthing rooms, stopped MRI machines from working. One elderly woman died soon after she stepped off a plane.
The baby was born on New Year’s day 2020. Smoke so thick and choking it filled the birth suite. Will it be as hellish as it seems in the dark hours this morning?.
Smoke has even reached New Zealand, 1,000 miles away. It has created eerie scenes atop glacier-covered peaks.
Whole South island experiences bushfire clouds. We can actually smell the burning here in Christchurch. Our view from the Tasman glacier in Christchurch.
Eight thousand koalas, a third of all the koalas in New South Wales, perished. About 30 percent of the koalas’ habitat has also been wiped out. The continent is home to 244 species, including the koala, that are not found anywhere else.
Crystal kolden, an associate professor of fire science at the University of Idaho, studied wildfires in Tasmania in 2018. kolden says Australia is also home to pockets of vegetation, inhabited by species that have survived for millions of years.
Summer extends from December to February in Australia, with fire season peaked in late January or early February. New South Wales transport minister Andrew Constance said conditions would get worse over the following few days.’it’s going to be a blast furnace,’ he added.
Australia is typically hot and dry, similar to conditions in California or the Mediterranean. The trees actually depend on fire to release their seeds.
Australia suffered its hottest day on record on December 18th at a scorching 40.9 degrees Celsius. Extreme heat and drought create more Tinder to fuel fires. The heightened intensity and frequency of wildfires falls in line with scientists’ predictions for a warming world.
Australia’s extreme heat is producing the types of intensity and early season burning that we do not normally see in Australia.’this is a function of climate change – this extreme heat, these extreme conditions that are so volatile,’ says kolden.
Australia prime minister Scott Morrison is facing heat for his own inaction on climate change. Morrison’s administration faced criticism for thwarting efforts to complete a rulebook for implementing the Paris agreement during a United Nations conference in Madrid in December. Morrison also got backlash for taking a vacation to Hawaii – which he ended up cutting short.
Australia relies heavily on volunteer firefighters. The current crisis has led to some policy changes. The Australian military sent in its own aircraft and vessels.
