by Emma Sporleder, Student Reporter
Since June 2019, a national crisis in Australia has killed an estimated one billion animals and at least 30 people.
This is information that can be found if you own a TV, smartphone or computer.
For more than six months, Australians caught up in the crisis have taken to social media to plead for help because large bushfires have burned through rural communities in Australia, especially in the southeast.
New South Wales, a southeastern Australian state, declared a state of emergency in June. As of Jan. 14, the fires have flattened 46 million acres, more than 5,900 buildings, and almost 3,000 homes. They may have driven some endangered species to extinction.
More than 100 fires have devastated Australia’s southeast coast. In New South Wales and Victoria, the most populous states in the country, people tried to outrun the fires, causing major highways to become clogged. People were trapped by the blaze.
South Australia’s Kangaroo Island experienced some of the worst conditions, and one-third of the island was on fire.
Hayden Clark, a senior business major and member of the Ranger Football Team, is from Canberra, Australia. He can supply anyone with information regarding Mother Nature’s wrath on his home country.
Clark said of his hometown, the capital of Australia: “Canberra topped the world in worst air quality, placing it above both China and India because of the smoke.”
According to BBC News, other major cities such as Sydney and Melbourne are still covered in a dense smoke that hasn’t lifted for months. Some regions of Australia recorded air quality measurements that are 20 times above the hazardous level.
The smoke is so thick that it has started to affect the people of New Zealand, which is a three-hour plane flight from Australia.
Clark believes that the firefighters and volunteers have been doing an “amazing job” and have managed to save countless homes and lives. Unfortunately, he said, there are not enough firefighters to fight all of the fires.
He also said of Australia’s leader: “The country is in a state of crisis right now, and many people are putting our prime minister under the pump for not doing enough. Instead of trying to help, he took a paid vacation to Hawaii.”
It is said that climate change, record-setting heat, lightning strikes, lengthy drought and arson are fueling the bushfires. Arson controversy struck in New South Wales when BBC News reported this month that 183 people had been charged with bushfire-related offences. Twenty-four of the 183 charged were accused of lighting fires; the rest were charged over failures to follow the total fire ban rules.
If you are wondering how you can help Australian wildlife, visit http://www.wildlifewarriors.org.au. Visit https://www.redcross.org.au/ to donate to the Red Cross in Australia. You can also visit http://www.givit.org.au, an Australian organization that matches donated goods with items that are specifically requested by victims of the fires.
People have asked for things like car batteries, fence posts and gas pumps.