Case study: 2019/ 2020 Australian Wildfires

Question 1

Causes

Answer 1

• Prolonged drought since 2017 resulted in exceptionally dry vegetation
• Changes in prevailing winds caused flames to be fanned, making them difficult to put out.
• El Nino phenomenon
• There were 91,000 lightning strikes in the Darwin area on Christmas day in 2019. Dry lightning strikes were predicted as early as september 2019

Question 2

Economic effects

Answer 2

• Estimated total cost of $70 billion
• Smoke caused a slow in production of coal, which accounts for 10% of Australian GDP
• Loss of tourism had an estimated cost of $2.8 billion, with an estimated 7300 jobs lost

Question 3

Social effects

Answer 3

• Death toll of over 30.
• 2000 homes lost
• Public health affected due to extremely bad air quality
• Air quality in New Zealand and South America also affected
• Major impact on farmer’s livelihood. 13% of the countries sheep were in affected areas.

Question 4

Environmental impacts

Answer 4

• Loss of biodiversity, with an estimated 1 billion animals killed, and 12 species put at risk of extinction.
• Water supplies heavily polluted.
• Wildfires released 250 million tonnes of CO2
• 12.6 hectares of woodland and forest burnt.

Question 5

Political impacts

Answer 5

• Government faced criticism after they refused to acknowledge climate change as a threat.
• In 2019, Australia introduced a scheme that pays companies if they reduce GHG emissions.

Question 6

Short term responses

Answer 6

• Thousands of volunteers helped to fight the fires, including fire fighters from the US, Canada, and New Zealand.
• Australian Police, military and navy involved in rescue and evacuation
• The WWF provided emergency food drops to NSW national parks to assist threatened species
• The red cross provided emergency grants to people to buy essentials
• 49,000 people were supported by over 2500 red cross personal.

Question 7

Long term responses

Answer 7

• The Australian government established the National Bushfire Recovery Agency to rebuild communities and livelihoods, with an initial $2 billion recovery fund
• Bushfire preparedness is taking place for future events, including controlled burning, vegetation clearing and maintaining defensible space.
• Affected infrastructure being rebuilt with more advanced technologies.