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Running Head: PEER REVIEWING IN EVIDENCE BASED PROJECTS 1

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What are the Real Causes of the Australian Bush Fires?

Bushfires are common in Australia and are problematic mainly 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 two sections. Section one involved reading as much information as possible on Australian bush fires on the internet, Section two involved watching a you tube video on one of the areas affected by the fires. The main purpose of watching the clip was to know the negative effects of the fires as well as see if I can get a hint of what caused the fires.

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.

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 watched a film that touched on the impact of the bushfires on 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 two hours watching the films trying to get insight on what happened and how it happened.

Over the two 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 (ABC News, 2020). When there is ample rain, the park’s vegetation is greenish. 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 during filming even though the bushfires that ravaged the park had been extinguished. Furthermore, the park was in black color which is a result of the effect of the fire on the park’s vegetation (guardian news, 2020). In the film, a man was recorded carrying burnt carcasses of Kangaroos and Koala bears (behind the news, 2020). He was taking the carcasses 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.

From my observations and research I was able to discover the answers to my problematic question. I was able to know how and why the Australian bush fires happened. Based on the research, I discovered that climatic and weather changes played a significant role in the start and the spread of Australian bush fires. In addition, I learnt that the impact of the bushfires is not only immediate but also long term due to the disruption of the country’s ecological system. Lastly I was able to identify solutions that can be implemented to prevent bush fires from starting in the country as well as spreading. For the country to prevent similar fires in the future, reforestation must happen as well as the adoption of measures that emphasize on reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Works Cited

ABC news (Australia). The search for wildlife survivors on bushfire-ravaged Kangaroo Island | ABC News:YouTube (2020). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwPr6Neql2E

Behind the news. Interview with Sam of Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park - Behind the News:Youtube(2020). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1aFzCf9UG4

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

 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

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/

Guardian news. Wildlife rescue teams search for survivors on Kangaroo Island: Youtube (2020). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ5TQXWCYmQ

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