By Katie Richardson, Science Editor
An estimated 10.7 million hectares of land is currently burning ferociously over 9,000 miles away and, in a global aspect, we are helpless.
An estimated 10.7 million hectares of land is currently burning ferociously over 9,000 miles away and, in a global aspect, we are helpless.Endless donations and rescue teams have volunteered, risking their lives in order to save those at risk, both humans and wildlife. Australia’s bushfires have already claimed the lives of 27 people, including 3 volunteers, and nearly half a billion animals have been impacted resulting in the koala species facing the verge of extinction due to its already vulnerable status. Australia is known to have a fire season throughout their summer time, but has it ever really been this bad?
These fires are known to Australia as the ‘bushfire season’ ,and are an annual occurrence because of the climate in their summertime. But, with recent accelerations in climate change and global warming, they are becoming more of an imminent threat to this popular tourist destination, and are often unprecedented. And, because of the severity of the fires, it has led to scientists asking many questions whether they are linked to climate change or not.
Bushfires, like the ones experienced in Australia are often triggered by natural causes such as extreme heat and dryness. In addition to this, there has been two influencing meteorological patterns that have contributed to the extremity of the climate in Australia, with these changing modes of weather patterns making the conditions even worse. The positive phase in the Indian Ocean dipole meant that a section of this ocean, off the north-west coast of Australia, was significantly cooler than normal, and the west of the ocean was a lot warmer than usual. This phases of variability within the ocean temperatures draw moisture away from Australia and tend to deliver a lot less precipitation- such as rainfall. On top of this, there is evidence that the additional quantity of greenhouse gases (e.g methane) have contributed to these positive dipole events.
The bushfires, however, are not the only startling aspect to have come about regarding Australia’s climate. Australia’s hottest year on record was 2019, with average temperatures above the highest value recorded between 1961 to 1990. New South Wales- the state hit by the bushfires the most- has seen an enormous temperature rise of 1.52 degrees celsius, which is a massive increase on a global temperature scale. Scientists often link this extreme rise in temperature with an increase in the enhanced greenhouse effect- the rise in greenhouse gases surrounding the stratosphere of the Earth due to human activity.
A study of Queensland's historic 2018 bushfire season found the extreme bushfires were four times more likely to occur because of the human-causes of climate change. Human activities that can cause a release of greenhouses gases are things such as deforestation, which releases trapped carbon dioxide inside of the trees out into the atmosphere. In addition, cattle and rice farming can release significant amounts of methane into the atmosphere. These gases form a band around the atmosphere, which traps heat radiation emitted from the Earth and reflects it back, heating up the planet often to dangerous levels.
Various climate studies prompted by the conditions of these bushfires have revealed that the intensity of the bushfires will only get progressively worse if more greenhouse gases are continually added to the atmosphere. The President of the Australian Academy of Science has claimed that more effort is needed to prioritise the ‘climate crisis’ that not only Australia is experiencing, but the planet as a whole. This is in order to implement mitigation strategies to reduce the devastating effects of the ravaging fires.
So far, thousands of firefighters are still determined to tackle the bushfires, ranging from small fires to infernos across the country. At least 3,700 firefighters are helping out at one time across the country at once, especially focussing on the worst hit states New South Wales and Victoria. Further support from countries such as the UK, New Zealand and Canada have been greatly received by Australia as international aid, in the form of money and rescue resources for volunteers/rescuees. The NSW fire crew service have deployed 100 aircrafts in the air daily to use in order to be able to direct ‘water bombs’ to the worst affected areas.
Despite all this effort to reduce the scale of this disaster, the prime minister Scott Morrison, has faced intense criticism for his lack of anticipation of the scale of the fires and the fact that the response was slow. He has also reportedly failed to accept the link between the rise in the danger of the bushfires and the increased levels of climate change. Morrison was forced to apologise for vacating to Hawaii for a month on a family holiday whilst his home country were still hard at work aiming to reduce the size of the fires.
It is evident that climate change is an immense problem for Australia as wildfires continue to rage as you read this now. There are several charities which have purposely been setup to raise money for those affected. We need to take urgent action to stop this global crisis. Now. The effects are becoming too real.
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