Australian Wildfires 2019-2020

• When

  2019-2020
• issues with managing wildfires


  many wildfires occuring at the same time in different places that all need to be dealt with

  a drought was occuring which meant there was a lot of fuel for the fires

  climate change has caused temperatures to rise and droughts to occur providing the conditions for wildfires

  fires have occured around the cities people live in
• social impacts

  killed 34 people

  destroyed over 5900 buildings including 2779 homes

  created an air quality levels which were severly hazardous to human health
• environmental impacts

  burned 186000 square kilometers

  killed an estimated one billion animals

  caused extinction among some endangered species

  spread smoke 11,000km to Chile and Argentina

  emitted over 300 million tonnes of CO₂
• economic impacts

  exceeded the AU$4.4 billion cost of the 2009 bushfires

  reduced tourism revenues by over AU$1 billion
• Government responses

  National Bushfire Recovery Agency established which is coordinating a national response to rebuild communities and livelihoods

  $2 billion recovery fund is helping people get the support they need

  Rebuilding affected infrastructure using the most advanced technology and thinking

  $50 million is being invested to support immediate work to protect wildlife and longer-term protection and restoration efforts
• Firefighters responses

  spraying water and fire retardant from planes and helicopters as well as from the ground

  professional firefighters & volunteers
• NGOs (Red Cross) responses

  providing foood, watre and relief items, emergency grants, bereavement payments to next of kin, welfare checks, first aid

  supporting people at evacuation, relief and recovery centres
• World responses

  fundraising

  donating toys, food, clothes and furniture

  messages of support (golden globe speeches)

  volunteer firefighters
• How effective were the responses

  government has been criticised by its opponents that its not been doing enough about climate change

  farmers are already adapting to more regular, longer dry periods and fire season

  donations of food and goods clog up halls used for recovery meetings and communities and local businesses actually need money to help rebuild the local economy

  people are getting the support they needeither from the givernments $2 billion recovery fund or from NGOs
• how is the response to wildfires changing

  people used to be advised to stay at home and protect their property during wildfires however that was when wildfires were minor, localised and easily controlled. Now the authority tells people if it is safe to stay or if they should go

  advancements in technology are leading to more advanced monitoring and warning systems making it easier to respond to wildfires due to earlier detection

  people are becoming increasingly aware, invested and educated
• mitigation

  fires can be mitigated against by removing fuel sources through controlled burning, creating fuel breaks with walkways, drive ways etc, building away from trees and other fuel sources, having evacuation plans.

  However things like droughts and climate change are harder to do anything about.

  people can also be educated on how to prevent fires from starting and what to do if a fire does occur
• role of global governance

  climate change is a global issue which increases the risk of wildfires. In order to do something about it global governance is required as if just one country cut their pollution there would still be many other polluting the atmosphere. However so far global attempts to mitigate climate change have seen little effect meaning the risk of wildfires is still increasing