• After the fires. Dust storms 'sweep' Australia
  • Climate crisis: Australia passes from fires to floods due to torrential rains
  • Scott Morrison - Prime Minister admits management mistakes

Australia has become the "zero zone" of climate change. What until now was a distant and abstract concept, has become a fearsome and pressing reality. The dreadful fires have killed at least 33 people, affected 480 million animals and razed an area of ​​more than 10 million hectares. The drought gave way to the record of temperatures and gusty winds that turned the southeast of the country into a real pyre. Then came the floods and dust storms, in an apocalyptic sequence of episodes of extreme weather. "Australia is on fire for one simple reason: Earth's temperature is rising, " warns British naturalist David Attenborough. Scientists warn that what is happening in the antipodes could occur in this decade and in other parts of the world if the red line of 1.5 degrees is exceeded.

THE PREAMBLE

2019 was the warmest and driest year in the history of Australia. The phenomenon known as "Indian Ocean dipole" (also called the Indian Child ) has been linked to the climatic rise to climate change. This anomaly causes higher than normal temperatures on both sides of the Indian Ocean and has contributed both to floods in Africa and to drought in Australia, which has mostly affected the two Southeast states: New South Wales and Victoria ( with a rainfall rate 20% lower than normal). Although 35% of the country is arid or semi-arid, these two states are precisely those with a more temperate climate and greater natural wealth, and also of greater tourist attraction, from Sydney to Melbourne, from the Blue Mountains to the Flinders Chase National Park.

THE FIRES

The fire season was advanced in 2019 to September (the southern spring). Although it is suspected that some might be intentional, the combination of drought with high temperatures had a lethal effect. December 18 was the hottest day ever recorded in Australia, with an average temperature of 41.9 degrees and a maximum of 49.9 degrees in Nullarbor. At the most critical moment, more than 200 outbreaks were detected in southeastern Australia. The area affected by the fires is already higher than that of Andalusia.

Although the fires of 1974 affected an even greater extent, the magnitude of the devastation has been much greater this time. More than 1,500 homes were destroyed and dozens of villages were evacuated. Thousands of Australians and tourists found temporary shelter on beaches like Mallacoota.

THE ANSWER

The response to the emergency was very late. Prime Minister Scott Morrison was on vacation in Hawaii at the critical moment. Since his victory in May at the head of the Liberal Party, the conservative politician has aligned himself with the US presidents, Donald Trump, and with that of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, on the "denialist" front. In his Christmas message he asked his countrymen for "patience" and appealed to the combative spirit to emulate "past generations who faced disasters, floods, fires, epidemics and droughts." Morrison resisted for weeks to establish a possible link to climate change and a member of his team called activists "lunatics." Australia is the third largest fossil fuel exporter in the world: between 2000 and 2015, its coal exports doubled and currently account for 29% of world trade. Despite having 0.3% of the world's population (24 million inhabitants), it is the fourteenth largest issuer.

WILD LIFE

Fires in southeastern Australia may have affected - or caused death - 480 million animals, according to estimates by Professor Chris Dickman of the University of Sydney (based on a census of mammals, reptiles and birds conducted by the conservation organization WWF in 2007). It is believed that 30% of the population of koalas in New South Wales may have died in the fires, as well as much of its population in the "sanctuary" of Kangaroo Island. "They have disappeared from many areas, and those who have survived have nowhere to eat because their habitats have been destroyed," warns Mike Letnic, a professor at the University of Sydney. Dozens of native or threatened species, such as antequinos or cucaburras, have also seen their populations depleted. The fires have also caused huge losses in agriculture and livestock (it is estimated that more than 100,000 sheep also died on Kangaroo Island).

Because of the richness of its fauna and flora, Australia is considered one of the 17 megadiverse countries . It is estimated that in its territory it houses between 600,000 and 700,000 species, and that more than 80% of plants and mammals are "endemic" and are not found anywhere else in the world

THE IMPACT

NASA satellites have detected how smoke from Australia fires rose up to 17.7 kilometers in the stratosphere and went around the world in the first two weeks of January. The amount of CO2 released by the fires is estimated to be equivalent to Australia's eight-month emissions. The smoke colored the glaciers of New Zealand gray and even reached the shores of South America. The fires made the air in the capital, Canberra, almost breathable, which registered levels up to 20 times above the maximum levels of polluting particles. In Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, a smog layer was installed that forced the suspension of the Australian Tennis Open. The smoke from the fires gave way to torrential rains, with a maximum of 54 millimeters per square meter in just half an hour in the town of St. Albans. Days later, a cloud of dust over 200 kilometers wide (from farmland affected by fires) swept through much of the interior of New South Wales and produced apocalyptic scenes in towns such as Dubbo, Broken Hill, Nyngan and Parkes .

THE FUTURE

There is still no assessment of the damage caused, it is feared that the fires will have a serious impact on the economy in 2020. Despite the feeling that the worst is over, meteorologists warn that, after the rains, it can return to a high risk situation until the end of the southern summer. A study by the Institute for Climate Change of the National University of Australia predicts that by 2050 there will be no "winter" in the country (except on the island of Tasmania). The report suggests the emergence of a season that could be called "new summer," with sustained temperatures above 40 degrees.

THE LESSONS

"In southeastern Australia, the frequency of extreme fire risk will rise from 4% 25% in 2020," the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which provided for "greater intensity and intensity, warned in 2007 lower interval between fires "due to rising temperatures. In 2008, Australia took steps to promote research on resources for prevention, mitigation and adaptation to climate change. As Minister of the Treasury, before he came to power, Scott Morrison virtually withdrew the financing of those programs. The wave of fires has revealed the absence of political commitments to scientific evidence. In March 2019, 300 scientists wrote to federal and local governments criticizing territorial management and "native vegetation clearing" practices that in their opinion have contributed to the drought.

In April, the Emergency Leaders for Climate Action organization wrote to the Australian Government demanding a new fleet of firefighters, but the response was delayed for months and the four new planes were not available until well into the fire season. The lack of preventive and coordination measures between the central government and the local governments of New South Wales and Victoria came into view at the most critical moments of the extinction tasks, which required the mobilization of 3,000 reserve soldiers.

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