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Fajhan 2

Ahmad Fajhan

Debbie Gyenizse

ENC 1102-U06

19 March 2020

Australian Bushfire and climate change

Over the recent past, Australia has been experiencing the challenge of occurrence of bushfires. This is mostly problematic especially for the reason that the cause of the bush fires have not been established. What is interesting about the issue is that these fires continually occur while the primary source of the fires remain a mystery. The country experienced high temperatures in 2019 as well as increase in the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. The ozone layer was damaged hence leading to lack of radiation balance on earth, and hence resulting to limited escape of heat through the ozone layer. For this reason, I felt the need to establish the principal causes and even the factors that enable the occurrence of the fires in Australia. It is also important to establish whether climatic changes affect occurrence of the fires (Dowdy, 2018).

To gain clarity on the matter, I decided to carry on some additional research and read more information on the internet about the Australian bush fires. As I conducted my first research, I learned four major facts about the fires. I found out that the majority of the country’s bush fires only ignited when there were record breaking heat waves, that before the fires started, the country was hot and dry.

Upon conducting my study on the Australian bush fires, I was able to identify 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 heat waves. Before the fires started, the country was hot and dry. As much as there are various ways in which the fires started: some by arsonists, some by lightning, it is the hot and dry climatic conditions that support the growth and just how quickly the fires spread.

I discovered in my second finding that climate change and weather variability can be held partly responsible for the fires. According to Lesley Head and his fellow climatologists, by taking a look at Australia’s climate, anyone can realize that the nation have been experiencing droughts which are stimulated by three winter seasons. The combination of two extreme seasons has left the country with little precipitation. The country was also made more vulnerable to heat waves by the Indian ocean dipole. The dipole were found to push the clouds that gather moisture far away from Australia, which led to more droughts in the country. This makes it vulnerable to heat waves.

The third finding I made showed that the Australian continent is a biodiversity hotspot, that 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. The fires either burn the animals and plants or destroy the foods that they depend on.

The fourth finding I uncovered showed that the lives of a large population of people living in Australia have been disrupted by the bushfires. For instance, about 4000 Australian citizens who previously resided in Victoria had to relocate to the beach due to occurrence of fires in the nearby regions. The fires made it impossible for rescue teams to get to the people via roads, since the fires had closed them off. The only escape route they had was via the sea and air. Not only did the fires destroy homes, but the fires also destroyed and interrupted food supplies, power supplies and even fuel supply. As a result of the fires, the smoke has also exposed many people to respiratory complications. Furthermore, farming has been interrupted, thus causing a vacuum in terms of food supply.

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/