The Australian bushfires are extremely vast, covering an area roughly the size of the Midlands. This tweet from The Guardian shows just how much of an area has been affected by bushfires.
For those in the UK & Ireland, this is the equivalent of how big the #AustralianFires are
From our interactive #ausfires map https://t.co/RFs8ydz7Yw#bushfirecrisis #AustraliaBurns #AustralianBushfires #BushfireEmergency #bushfiresAustralia #AustraliaBurning #AustraliaFires pic.twitter.com/6Rn6tRMrCI
— The Guardian (@guardian) January 2, 2020
It’s no surprise, then, that many animals are being affected. Ecologists (University of Sydney) estimate that roughly 480 million creatures have been killed by the recent wildfires. That includes 8,000 Koala bears.
A state of emergency is currently in force as weather conditions are set to worsen over the coming days, increase the chance of wildfires. Unusually high temperatures will provide the energy and very strong winds will help spread the wildfires across the South East. As a result, several warnings are in force and evacuation orders are in force. Especially so, but not limited to, the state of Victoria. This map from Vic Emergency shows the current location of advisories in the South East area (i.e. New South Wales / Victoria).
The Ecological impact is of much concern. Wildfires of such magnitude release large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere via combustion, this then helps to increase global temperatures. A further increase in temperatures then promotes more wildfires, and more CO2, and so forth. It is a perpetual loop, and the ecological impacts are of high magnitude to.