The Australian bush fires have had drastic impacts on the environment and wildlife. All of Australia has been hit, but New South Wales (NSW) was hit the hardest. National parks and even big-name cities such as Sydney have also been tormented by the fires. At one point, the air quality in Sydney was 11 times the hazardous level. The summer in Australia is typically fire season due to the arid, hot weather, but the most recent season has been far worse than usual.   Australia is not only going through one of the worst droughts in years making it even easier for the climate to naturally catch fire, but there have been several reported cases of people starting fires.

The severity of the fires has caused massive structural damage to many state residences.  Unfortunately, the most damage took place in the most populated state, NSW. Over 1,500 houses have been destroyed and over 600 damaged. In total, over 7.3 million hectares of Belgium and Denmark. Over 25 people have been killed by the fires including several firefighters. Over half a billion animals have been affected and millions are dead.  

With all resources of the fire department dedicated to stopping the fires, the government has sent in military assistance from all branches. This granted extraordinary assistance with the personnel alone, but the tools new resources proved a critical asset.  

If you wish to make any donations you can donate to the Australian Red Cross, Salvation Army Australia, the NSW Rural Fire Service, and the St. Vincent de Paul Society Australia. If you wish to help the animal population you can donate to these organizations as well: WIRES, the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, and Currumbin Wildlife Hospital.

Yeung, Jessie. “What You Need to Know about Australia’s Deadly Wildfires.” CNN, Cable News Network, 14 Jan. 2020, www.cnn.com/2020/01/01/australia/australia-fires-explainer-intl-hnk-scli/index.html.