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Australian Bushfire and climate change

Bushfires are common in Australia over the past century and it has been problematic because the underlying root cause of the fires is not clear. The topic is interesting because the unprecedented bushfires have continued to unfold and the principal causes of the fires are still a competing argument. In 2019, the temperatures in Australia were above average and the rising levels of the greenhouse gases into the atmosphere caused the lack of radiation balance on earth leading to less escape of heat. The above findings led to the desire to know what the underlying causes and negative factors that favor the occurrence of Australia’s bushfires are as well as the role of climate change concerning these devastating fires.

To gain clarity on the matter, I decided to carry out research. My research was divided into three sections. Section one involved me reading as much information as possible on Australian bush fires, Section two involved the visitation of one of the areas affected by the fires. The main purpose of the visitation was to confirm the negative effects of the fires as well as see if I can observe possible causes of the fires. The last section involved interviewing an expert on the Australian bushfires to gain insight on the bush fires.

Researching on the Australian bushfires

Upon conducting my study on the Australian bush fires, I was able to know four main things about the fires. The first finding was that the majority of the country’s bush fires ignited when there were record-breaking heatwaves. Before the fires started, the country was hot and dry. As much as there are various ways in which the fires started: some by arsons, some by lightning, it is the dry and hot climatic conditions of the country that supported the growth of the fires as well as their spreading.

The second finding was that climate change and weather variability can be held partly responsible for the fires. A look at Australia’s climate one cannot help note that the nation has been facing severe drought which has been spurred by three winter periods (Lesley et al., 2019 p. 183) The combination of the two extreme seasons has left the country with little precipitation (Dowdy, 2018 p. 223). Also, the country was hit by the Indian ocean dipole which pushed moisture gathering clouds further away from Australia making the country drier and more susceptible to heatwaves.

The third finding was that the continent is a biodiversity hotspot. The occurrences of bush fires are putting plants and animals at risk. The continent has close to 250 species of mammals however with the rise of bush fires, the number is bound to drop and this will put a strain on the country’s ecological system (Resnick,  Irfan, and Samuel, 2020). The fires either burn the animals and plants or destroy the foods that they depend on.

The fourth finding was that thousands of people’s lives have been disrupted by the fires. In the last Australian fires, about 4000 people in Victoria were forced to head to the beach as their communities were ravaged by fires. The fires made it impossible for rescue teams to get to the people via roads as the fires had closed them off. The only escape route they had was via the sea and air. The fires not only destroyed homes, but as well destroyed and interrupted food supplies, power supplies and even fuel supply (Berglez, Peter, and Lidsko, 2019 p. 386). The smoke as a result of the fires has also exposed many people to respiratory complications. Furthermore, farming has been interrupted creating a vacuum in terms of food supply.

My observations after visiting one of the areas affected by the bushfires

To find out more information about the reason why the Australian bushfires started as well as the impact of the bushfires, on 16th March I went to Kangaroo Island in South Australia which is a good location to observe the impacts of the fire and to evaluate the underlying causes and negative factors that favor the occurrence of Australia’s bushfires. I spent four hours in the area, combing through what remained of the famous park.

Over the four hours, I was able to notice three main things. The first thing was that the park was dry. The bushes and the grass were dry; the color of the vegetation was bordering between green and brown which is not usual of the park’s vegetation. When there is ample rain, the park’s vegetation is greenish. Also, I noted that the park was extraordinarily hot and dry. From the first observation, I was able to conclude that the park was extraordinarily dry and that is a potential cause of the bushfires that affected the park.

Besides, I noticed that there was a black smoke that filled the park, even though the bushfires that ravaged the park were extinguished a while back. Furthermore, the park was in black color which is a result of the effect of the fire on the park’s vegetation. I as well noted that the park was full of burnt flesh smell. Upon enquiring from those in the site with me at the time of the visit, I was told that it was the scent of burnt carcasses of Kangaroos and Koala bears. I was further redirected to an animal mass grave. The grave was dug to house the park animals that were burnt by the bushfires or that that died due to inhaling smoke. From the observation of burnt carcasses, I was able to identify the impact of the bushfires not only on vegetation but also on animals.

Interview with a climate expert

In addition to the information I have already provided through my interest and knowledge about the Australian bushfires, and my informative observation on this subject, I had the great fortune, on March 17th, 2020, to interview Ken Thompson, co-founder of Emergency Leaders for Climate Action an expert in the field of climatology. First, I thanked Thompson for taking the time out of his busy schedule to grant me this interview. Then I asked him what role climate played in the Australian bushfires since climatic changes had been identified as a contributor to the bushfires. He responded by saying that global warming more so due to greenhouses gases had raised the heat level in the country, thereby making Australia more susceptible to bush fires considering of its vegetative cover.

The second asked him was what the immediate effects of the fires are. He responded by saying “as you can see a lot of plant cover has been destroyed, some animals have died as a result of the fire and human activities have been disrupted.” I then asked him what the long term effects of the bushfires were. He responded by stating that “the bushfires had disrupted Australia’s ecological system and that would affect the climatic condition of Australia in a long time.” The last thing I asked him was what could be done to prevent future bushfires and he responded by stating that reforestation would help as well as adopting measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. AS our interview came to a close, I again thanked Ken Thompson for agreeing to answer my questions about bushfires and climatic change to which he graciously wished me much luck as I continue to research my topic.

Conclusion

Based on the research, I was able to note three main things. First, climatic and weather changes have played a significant role in the Australian bush fires. Secondly, the impact of the bushfires is not only immediate but also long term due to the disruption of the country’s ecological system. Lastly, for the country to prevent similar fires in the future, reforestation must happen as well as the adoption of measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Works Cited

Dowdy, Andrew J. "Climatological variability of fire weather in Australia." Journal of applied meteorology and climatology 57.2 (2018): 221-234. Retrieved from https://journals.ametsoc.org/

Head, Lesley, et al. "Climate change and Australia." Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change 5.2 (2019): 175-197. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/

 Brian Resnick, Umair Irfan, and Sigal Samuel. “8 things everyone should know about Australia’s bushfire disaster.”(2020). Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2020/1/8/21055228/australia-fires-map-animals-koalas-wildlife-smoke-donate

Berglez, Peter, and Rolf Lidskog. "Foreign, domestic, and cultural factors in climate change reporting: Swedish media’s coverage of bushfires in three continents." Environmental Communication 13.3 (2019): 381-394. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2017.1397040