Australia Wildfires

• How many people died in the forest?

  30 people
• How many homes were destroyed?

  More than 3 000
• What percentage of Australians were affected?

  57%
• How was Canberra affected?

  It was measured to have the worst air quality index of any major city in the world
• How did the smoke pollution affect humans?

  It caused widespread health impacts, especially affecting the young, the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions
• How much were the damages?

  In excess of AU$100 billion
• How was agriculture affected?

  100 000 cows and sheep lost, giving negative impacts for farmers
• What percentage of Australia's forests were affected?

  21%, making the wildfires the worst in history
• How many animals were affected?

  Half a billion
• How many hectares of land were burnt?

  6.3 million
• Which countries sent in firefighters?

  New Zealand, the US and Canada
• How many Australian firefighters aided?

  2 000 firefighters
• How did the summer contribute to the cause?

  The summer was very hot and dry, with drought conditions drying out vegetation, in turn making it extremely easy for the fire to spread
• How did the temperatures in December contribute to the cause?

  There was a heatwave in December, temperatures reaching up to 40 degrees c, one of the hottest summers on record
• What else also contributed to the cause?

  Dry lightning and incidental sparks
• How did humans contribute to the cause?

  New South Wales had to charge roughly 20 people with starting fires
• How did global warming contribute to the cause?

  Australia was 1 degree warmer than its average recorded temperature in 2019
• How long did the fires burn for?

  5 months