Lily Woods investigates the blazes that wreaked destruction across Australia

Throughout December, a thick layer of smoke hovered over the city of Sydney, obscuring the tips of skyscrapers, and by early January, NASA were still reporting that smoke from the wildfires ravaging eastern Australia were concealing the city from view. It is no secret that annual bush fires have been a natural, regular occurrence across Australia for many years. This is particularly the case for the eastern region of the country, mainly due to their high concentration of eucalyptus forests, a naturally dry type of forestry. And yet, while bush fires have long shaped the terrain of Australia, the season of 2019-20 was unlike any other Australia has seen before, both in its path of destruction and in its inability to be controlled. In just three months, over 12 million acres of land across the country was burned, marking a significant turning point in Australia’s history.

So, why did the bush fires start? Extreme heat and dryness were significant factors in enabling these fires to begin, and while high temperatures and a lack of rainfall are common during summer, 2019 was particularly remarkable for Australia. Indeed, last year was the hottest year on record across the country, with temperatures approximately 1.5°C above the 1961-1990 average. What’s more, New South Wales, a region ravaged by the fires, saw an increase to 1.95°C above average. Thus, in just a year, much of eastern Australia saw a rise of 0.27°C. The country has also been gripped by a near-crippling three-year drought, with 2019 being its driest year. With a 40 per cent decrease of annual rainfall when compared to the year before, New South Wales also experienced a dramatic reduction in levels of rainfall. The size of the area affected by this drought is 1.5 million km2 or, in other words, space larger than the country of Ethiopia (theguardian.com).