Search icon

Environment

03rd Jan 2020

The terrifying scale of Australia’s bush fires

JOE

According to estimates, close to half a billion animals have been killed as a result of the fires

Australia is no stranger to bush fires, but the devastation it has been experiencing since the later months, and which is expected to get worse further into the New Year, has prompted questions at the country’s climate policy.

Scott Morrison, now prime minister of Australia, famously entered the country’s House of Representatives while treasurer, in 2017, holding a lump of coal; a confusing gesture but believed to be a symbol of how his party would meet Australia’s energy demands.

Less than two years later and Morrison is under huge pressure to accept that the fires destroying enormous swathes of the country are directly linked to climate policy.

An area more than twice the size of Wales is on fire in Australia, and it could get much worse. These are the numbers which showcase the terrifying scale of Australia’s bush fires.