The year 2019 was the hottest on record for Australia, with the temperature reaching approximately 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit above the long-term average, according to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology. Hughes adds that climate change may also be causing more frequent and severe heatwave conditions in the country. “It has affected the ongoing decline of rainfall and therefore impacts of the current drought that we’re experiencing, especially in southeastern Australia” she says. “Climate change is supercharging the fires,” Lesley Hughes, a professor of biology at Macquarie University and a Climate Councillor at the Climate Council of Australia, tells TIME. Last week alone, 10 deaths have been confirmed in Victoria and New South Wales.Įxperts say that climate change is contributing to the historically intense fire season. What’s happening?Īt least 200 fires were burning in Australia as of Jan. A separate GoFundMe campaign has raised more than $4.7 million for the organization. The Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, which helps rescue and treat injured koalas, is accepting online donations. Volunteer organization BlazeAid is accepting donations to help rural families rebuild after the damaging fires. Victoria’s Country Fire Authority has set up a Bushfire Disaster Appeal to support community members affected by fires in the area. You can also donate to the local fire service directly. Local fire services in several states have set up donation funds, including the New South Wales Rural Fire Service which has set up a collection for some of the families of volunteer firefighters that have been killed battling the fires. The Australian Red Cross is accepting to contributions to its Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund, which has so-far deployed 1,285 staff and volunteers to disaster-affected communities. The Salvation Army Australia, which is providing meals to evacuees and frontline responders, is accepting monetary donations. Where to donate to help with Australian bushfire recovery Owen Price, an Associate Professor at the Centre for Environmental Risk Management of Bushfire at the University of Wollongong, tells TIME that approximately 30% of the forest in New South Wales has been burned, but that may increase to around 50% this weekend with the weather forecast. And the next few days, and indeed the next few months, are going to be challenging,” Andrews said at the weekend. Daniel Andrews, the premier of Victoria, told reporters that Australians should not be “complacent” about the fires, according to the Associated Press. Officials have warned that the country will be under threat from fires for months. In an interview with Public Radio International, he updated his estimate to suggest 1 billion animals could be affected across the country. Many of the animals are likely to have been killed by the bushfires, although some will likely die later due to the destruction of their food and shelter, according to Dickman’s research. According to an analysis by Professor Chris Dickman at the University of Sydney, an estimated 480 million animals could perish in New South Wales as a result of the bushfires. The fires have also devastated Australia’s unique wildlife. Ten firefighters have reportedly been killed while fighting the fires, including several in vehicle crashes. Bushfires kill 24 people and millions of animalsĪt least 24 people have been killed in the wildfires, including at least 20 in New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state. Here’s what to know about the crisis that’s unfolding in Australia. The military has deployed ships and aircraft to bring supplies to towns ravaged by the fires, and to evacuate residents who were cut off by the flames.Ĭonditions are expected to worsen again, with hot weather that will likely intensify the fires. Several people remain missing, and hundreds of homes have been destroyed. “We’re in the middle of a war situation…mass evacuations, the involvement of the military, hugely exhausted firefighting campaigns, it’s difficult to explain.” “The intensity, the scale, the number, the geographical range, the fact that they’re occurring simultaneously, and the sorts of environments that are burning are all extraordinary,” David Bowman, a professor of pyrogeography and fire science and the director of the Fire Centre Research Hub at the University of Tasmania, tells TIME. The fire season in Australia is far from over, and already it is shaping up to be one of the most intense in the country’s history.