A Case Study on the Australian Wildfires (2019-2020)

Kavita Jethwani
Durham University
18th March 2024

Recipient: Neil Hurst

 Abstract
Wildfires are common in Australia due to the hot and humid climate of the country but the
wildfires in 2019/2020 were a calamitous time for Australia. The first wildfires started at the
beginning of September 2019 and lasted for about six months up until March 4, 2020, when it
was declared that all the fires had been extinguished. (Center for Disaster Philanthropy,
2020). According to BBC, more than 12.6 million hectares were burned and over 3000
homes were lost. This was huge because 17% of Australia is made up of forests - 143/760
million hectares are forests. Many things contributed to the cause of these wildfires such as
climate change and the El Niño weather pattern, but the main reason was dry lightning in
drought at the time. Due to the drought, there was a lack of moisture in the soil which made it
easier to ignite and spread fires rapidly, thereby leading to a severe natural disaster later
known as the “Black Summer of Australia”. This case study will discuss the causes, effects,
and solutions of the Australian wildfires from both a human and an environmental
perspective, followed by actions taken after the bushfires, how successful the government’s
response was in dealing with that, then, a comparative analysis of the 2019-2020 Australian
Bushfires versus the Black Saturday fires and finally a conclusion.

Introduction
The Australian wildfires began at the start of September and ended on March 4, 2020. More
than 100 fires preceded the initial fires across Queensland and New South Wales. The
situation was so dreadful, the prime minister called upon approximately 1300 firefighters
across the two states. (BBC, 2019). It was discovered that the bushfires released twice the
amount of carbon dioxide than estimated and surpassed Australia's normal annual fire and
fossil fuel emissions by 80%. - 715 teragrams of carbon dioxide were emitted between
November 2019 and January 2020.

Causes

- Human

One of the many reasons some of the wildfires were spreading faster was due to the
malpractices and carelessness of the general public. For example, some of the fires were
caused due to arson- “ Authorities earlier this week said they believe three large fires in that
area had been deliberately lit.” (BBC, 2019). Others were caused due to human negligence,
accidental ignition, and poor land management practices such as machinery sparks, power
lines, equipment malfunctions, or deforestation which involves removing natural barriers to
fire and contributing to the buildup of flammable material. Some of them were even due to
urbanization- as urban areas expand into natural ecosystems, the risk of wildfires increases,
i.e. homes situated near wildland areas are more susceptible to ignition during fire events.
Furthermore, all of this then led to the issues in the circulation of large amounts of
disinformation regarding the causes of the fire activity, to the neglect of credible scientific
research, expert opinion, and previous government inquiries.

- Environmental

There are many complex environmental causes of the Australian wildfires. Australia's
climatic conditions, intensified by climate change, set the stage for this disaster. Prolonged
drought, record-breaking temperatures (one of the hottest years according to the WMO-
World Meteorological Organization), and El Niño-affected summers created a dangerous
scenario. These factors, coupled with years of rain-driven plant growth drying out which
thereby contributed to an environment prone to rapid and widespread wildfires - the Black
Summer bushfires came after several years of record-breaking floods, which were then
followed by the wildfires in 2019-20, which themselves led to years of drought. ( BBC,2019).
Some other reasons were climate trends and vegetation management ( natural cycle and
human influence).

Effects

- Human

The effects on humans caused by these fires were a significant one. 34 lives were lost (which
included 9 firefighters(Parliament of Australia, 2020)), and one analysis estimated 417 excess
deaths resulted from longer-term consequences of the fires and smoke exposure. (The
Guardian, 2023). many died during the evacuation process while others died protecting their
properties. For example, a news reporter from BBC News Channel said, “A man died on
Tuesday night while trying to protect his property, and a woman died on Wednesday after
suffering a cardiac arrest while preparing to evacuate.” Furthermore, according to a survey
done in January 2020, the bushfires have already had an impact on 26% of Australian
businesses. According to some estimates, the total economic effect will be more than the
$A4.4 billion (US$2.9 billion) Black Saturday fires. Moreover, at some points of the wildfire,
the air quality dropped to hazardous levels to to point, where NASA estimated that 306
million tonnes of carbon dioxide was emitted. Other significant effects were also seen in
Australia's fishing and tourism sectors, which were made worse by COVID-19-related
lockdowns and travel restrictions.

Now, progressing to the infrastructural damages, many of the buildings that were lost were
farm buildings contributing to the initially challenging task of agricultural recovery due to
farms covered in ash and historically high levels of drought. 5900 buildings were destroyed
which included 2779 homes. The Insurance Council calculated that insurance claims for
bushfire losses were about 1.9 billion Australian dollars (US$1.3 billion) between November
and mid-February when the majority of fires were contained. (Center for Disaster
Philanthropy, 2020).

- Environmental

The bushfires burnt more than 46 million acres of Australia. At least 80% of the Blue
Mountains World Heritage Area in New South Wales and 53% of the Gondwana World
Heritage rainforests in Queensland were burned and the loss of habitat had a serious negative
influence on the species' ability to recover. In addition, around a 74,000 km2 area almost the
size of Scotland - of eucalyptus forest went up in flames triggering mass evacuations
and killing or displacing 3 billion animals. According to Chris Dickman, an ecologist at the
University of Sydney, the bushfires claimed the lives of over a billion animals, including
800,000 in New South Wales with a danger to many species going into extinction. For
instance, it's estimated that almost one-third of the koala population perished. In addition, a
research that combined satellite data and surface observations stated that the wildfires also
had an impact on marine ecosystems thousands of kilometers distant. Moreover, the South
Pacific and Southern Ocean, which are typically iron-limited environments, experienced
phytoplankton blooms between December 2019 and March 2020 as a result of the aerosols
released by the fires. When combined, those blooms covered an area larger than Australia.
 Solutions

- Human

Improving firefighting capabilities, investing in early warning systems, and enhancing

evacuation plans are essential human-centric solutions. Public awareness campaigns on fire
prevention and responsible land use, coupled with stricter law enforcement against arson, can
mitigate future risks. Some more specific strategies include reintroducing aboriginal Fire
Management Practices, crisis management and safety, and finally cultural preservation

- Environmental

A comprehensive strategy is required to address environmental aspects. Reforestation

programs, habitat restoration initiatives, and the protection of biodiversity hotspots can
contribute to long-term ecological resilience. Implementing sustainable land management
practices can help reduce the risk of future wildfires.

What has been done about this since the 2019-2020 fires to prevent and minimize the
causation of the Australian Fires? How successful was the government in responding to
this disaster?

The government was quite successful when it came to responding to this disaster, especially
considering the unexpected nature of the fires. The government set aside an initial $50
million to fund measures aimed at long-term wildlife protection and restoration. In order to
recover livelihoods and communities, the Australian government established the National
Bushfire Recovery Agency, which was/is in charge of organizing a nationwide response.
Families, farmers, and business owners affected by these bushfires received the necessary
support while they recuperate thanks to the agency's initial $2 billion recovery fund.
According to some sources, they repaired the damaged infrastructure with the most cutting-
edge tools and methods. In response to the Australian bushfires, the Australian government
committed a $50 million first investment to help both emergency measures to safeguard
wildlife and longer-term preservation and restoration projects. $25 million was used to
establish an emergency intervention fund to assist the immediate survival of affected animals
and plants. The remaining $25 million was to support wildlife rescue, zoos, and conservation
groups with on-the-ground activities.

This included:

- Up to $7 million for Natural Resource Management groups in bushfires. It affected

areas to carry out emergency interventions including control of feral predators, other
pest animals and weeds, and habitat protection measures (such as fencing and nest
boxes).
- Up to $7.5 million to support on-ground wildlife rescue, protection, and care services.
- Up to $5 million for Greening Australia to increase the supply of seed and native
plants for revegetation.
- $1 million each for Taronga Zoo, Zoos Victoria, and Zoos South Australia for
emergency wildlife support to the establishment of insurance populations of at-risk
native animal species. This is in addition to the $3 million supporting Queensland
Koala Hospitals and the $3 million for Koala habitat restoration in northern NSW and
south-east Queensland.
- Up to $2.5 million for Conservation Volunteers Australia to mobilize volunteers
through a national coordination point.

Furthermore, Australia has also received help from the United Kingdom. The UK
Government supported Australia in their recovery, by sending a UK team to look at how best
to assist with their recovery and how they might cooperate on managing future fire seasons.
Australian governments have also been taking support from the general public. For example,
the National Bushfire Recovery Agency provided a directory of a large number of charities
covering the breadth of the bushfire response. (Australian High Commission, no date).
However, the efficiency of these actions was questioned as others argued for stronger climate
preparedness and regulations. Although the funding for wildlife preservation and restoration
initiatives was commendable it begged the question of how adequate the whole plan was.

Australian Bushfires(2019-2020) v/s the Black Saturday fires

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Australian government has

 References

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2024).

Australian fires fueled unprecedented blooms (no date) NASA. Available at:
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/149039/australian-fires-fueled-
unprecedented-blooms (Accessed: 27 February 2024).

Australian High Commission in (no date) Home. Available at:

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Harwood- Baynes, M. (2021) Australia bushfires: Devastating flames released more than
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More than 2,400 lives will be lost to bushfires in Australia over a decade, experts
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Ritchie, H., Roser, M. and Rosado, P. (2020) Australia: CO2 Country Profile, Our World in
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%202019%20was%20the%20second%20warmest%20year%20on%20record,were
%20the%20highest%20on%20record. (Accessed: 27 February 2024).

(No date) Wildfire prevention in Australia. Available at:

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Format:
Can you compare two countries at the end of your case study?
Short-, medium- and long-term effects
Effects on the environment and humans
Add pictures and diagrams and graphs

CAUSES
CLIMATE TREND GRAPH
Weather graphs
Vegetation management by humans
Political nature
Satellite images?
Tourism
Could Compare the wildfires to an earlier/ similar event like the 2009 wildfires/ black
Saturday fire?
Air quality?