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Australian wildfires spark climate change discussion Kiley Peterson reporter Kolbie Christensen reporter
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he bright red color overtakes the sky and ashes are woven into the air making it hard to breathe and to see. That’s the reality for the millions of people living in Australia since September. Currently, billions of animals and thousands of people are suffering in Australia due to the bushfires. According to CNN, the fires have spread across 17.9 million acres of land, with the death total reaching 28 people as of Jan. 13, 2020. These fires sparked a deeper look into the environment and into climate change. Climate change has been around in the news for the last 30 years and isn’t a new phenomenon. The cause of climate change can be boiled down to humans excessively burning fossil fuels which is creating greenhouse gases that trap heat in Earth’s atmosphere. This raises the overall temperature of the Earth and contributes to the wildfire issue. In the United States, California has been the target for many wildfires in the last couple of years. While wildfires are not something new to California, the intensity and amount of fires in the state is. Climate change has made wildfires much easier to
spark and to continue burning. Similar to California, Australia has become hotter and drier which ultimately made wildfires spread faster and more intensely. Since 1950, Australia’s national temperature has increased by 2.7 degrees fahrenheit per year, adding to dry conditions and making fire season increasingly worse. J.J. Quillin, BV West’s AP Environmental Science teacher, discusses the subject of wildfires in his classes and understands how natural fires work. “The increased temperature makes things dry out more, making them more susceptible to burning,” Quillin said. “Fires are then more likely to start and when they do, there are more dry materials that exacerbate, and that makes it more intense.” While the bushfires in Australia are known for causing harm to people, Quillin explained how the naturally occurring fires can actually be beneficial to the environment and almost necessary to keep it lush. “[Wildfires are] necessary for many ecosystems to thrive, fire cleans the slate and there are many organisms that have evolved to withstand
Photos courtesy of Wikipedia and Getty Images. All photos taken in Australia.
