Australia's flora and fauna are at greater risk than ever from wildfires, droughts, human activity and global warming.

This is the alarm raised by the government that released a report with shocking data.

A worrying photograph of the damage caused by the climate and the work of man.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the average Australian land temperature has risen by 1.4 degrees Celsius due to global warming, accelerating the deterioration of flora and fauna.

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek

described the report as a

"shocking document"

.

"It tells a story of crisis and decline in the Australian environment," she said.

According to the study results,

the 2019-2020 forest fires burned more than eight million hectares of vegetation and killed or moved between one and three billion animals in the country.

.

Ocean heatwaves caused massive coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef in 2016, 2017 and 2020. Since then, the reef has undergone massive bleaching again.

Millions of hectares of virgin forest have also been destroyed since 1990, according to experts' work.

gettyimages

Australia, the forest fires of 2019-2020 burned more than eight million hectares of vegetation

The same deterioration suffered over seven million hectares of habitat for endangered species between 2000 and 2017.

In five years, more than 200 animal and plant species of national importance have been added to the endangered species list under Australian environmental laws.

"Australia has lost more mammal species than any other continent," the report said, with the number of new threatened species increasing by 8% in five years.

Australian cities are also growing at a rapid pace, according to the report, leading to increased heat, pollution and municipal waste, and straining water and energy resources.

"Sydney has lost more than 70% of its native vegetation due to development," the study explains.

"

Rachel Lowry, acting

CEO of WWF-Australia.

"If we ignore the warnings in this report, iconic species like the koalas of eastern Australia or our largest flying mammal, the great glider, will disappear forever

," she warned.

gettyimages

Australia, fauna and flora at risk