Australia wildfire case study

Question 1

Date

Answer 1

Started in september 2019 until June 2020 ‘Black Summer Bushfires’

Question 2

Location

Answer 2

East and South-East Coast of Australia
The states of New South Wales and Victoria (Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne)

Question 3

History of wildfires in Australia?

Answer 3

2015 Lancefield cowbaw bushfires
2013 red october fires which burnt large swatches of new south wales
2009 black saturday

Question 4

2009 black saturday stats

Answer 4

Feb 2009
173 deaths
3059 buildings destoryed

Question 5

Causes

Answer 5

• 2019 was Australias hottest year on record 1.5 above the long term average
• Long term drought over 30 years
• Strong winds
• Extreme indian ocean dipole
• El nino in the first half of 2019 = drought
• High number of lightning strikes (91,000 on christmas day 2019)
• Australias driest year in 2019 with rainfal being 40% lower than average recorded
• Long term climate change
• The bushfire was sparked by an illegal campfire in mid-October and has burnt through over half of the island - about 83,000 hectares. (fraser island)

Question 6

Primary impacts

Answer 6

• 33 people killed
• 3000 homes destroyed
• 1 billion animals killed
• Flames 12.4m high**
• Penrith, a Sydney suburb, was the hottest place on Earth at 41.9°C on 33 people killed
• Destroyed 12.4 million acres of land (63,000km²)

Question 8

Secondary impacts

Answer 8

3 billion animals displaced

Some animals now facing extinction (e.g., kangaroo and koala; ⅓ of the koala population killed)

Loss of plant biodiversity

Increased tornadoes in the area

Rise in air pollution (Australian fires have released over 250 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere; affected the ATP tennis tournament)

Water pollution

Question 9

Short term responses

Answer 9

Firefighters deployed to fight the wildfire on the ground using water cannons, ditches, and controlled burn practices

Aerial fighting using helicopters and light aircraft

Police, military, and navy involved in rescue and evacuation

Overseas firefighters sent to help from the USA, Canada, and New Zealand

Donations from the public and celebrities (Elton John and Jeff Bezos each donated 1 million)

Question 10

Long term responses

Answer 10

• The government of Victoria set up a new government agency - Bushfire Recovery Victoria to help manage and coordinate the recovery process
• Long-term smoke forecasting systems set up from weather forecasting agency access (Australia Community Climate and Earth System Simulator and climate modeling to allow ‘lead evacuation time’)

Question 11

Australia today

Answer 11

As global warming makes such events more frequent and intense Australinas will need to take drastic adaptation measures ie rethinking where they live and how they manage their landscape
Federal government needed to take greater responsibility for coordinating a response to the fires at the national level and need to consider climate change in its planning
When the country’s prime minister, Scott Morrison, visited Cobargo in the immediate aftermath of the worst fires in January, residents heckled him and refused to shake his hand.
Australian government with deep ties to coal indsury slow on reducing emissions and to acknowledged the role of climate change in the blazes
La nina reached its end in 2023 with the return of hot and dry el nino and starting to experience more intense wildfires with 40c since the black summer fires

Question 12

Risk of more intense wildfires in australia?

Answer 12

As global warming makes such events more frequent and intense Australinas will need to take drastic adaptation measures ie rethinking where they live and how they manage their landscape
La nina reached its end in 2023 with the return of hot and dry el nino and starting to experience more intense wildfires with 40c since the black summer fires