Australia bushfires that started in late December 2019 and continue up to this day is a devastating catastrophe. Millions of acres have burnt, billions of animals have been killed and thousands of homes have been destroyed. It’s a true ecological disaster that affects not only Australia, but the whole worlds. So, in today’s post we wanted to talk about the tragedy and what can we do to help.
Bushfire impacts.
One of the major impacts is biodiversity impact. Yes, fires have killed many billions of animals, but it doesn’t end there. Another billions of animals, bats and insects are expected to die in the next months due to the loss of habitat and food resources. This is an enormous hit on global biodiversity which recently has been in steep decline. Biodiversity is important for survival not only animals and insects, but humans as well as it impacts ecosystems vital for our own global food production.
If such extreme megafires continue at the same rate as we’ve seen in 2019, estimated 1 million species will become instinct in the upcoming years.
Health impact. Smoke from the wildfires affects our health more than we think because it contains a mixture of hazardous gases and produce fine article air pollution which can cause fatalities. Continuous exposure to polluted air can result in various diseases ranging from eye and respiratory tract irritations bronchitis and asthma.
What is worse, smoke from wildfires can travel great distances meaning that its implications span way outside of Australia. Smoke from wildfires reportedly drifted across Pacific and affected Argentina and Chile.
Impact on global warming. Wildfires aren’t only caused by global warming which made forest burn more intensely, they also add to it. Just in past three months, due to the bushfires, Australia has emitted the amount of carbon dioxide it usually emits in a year. This will not only increase overall Australia greenhouse gas emissions, which in turn will cause the likelihood of such intense megafire happening again.
What can we do to help?
There’re multiple organizations that work tirelessly to alleviate the devastating consequence of bushfires.
Australian Red Cross. You can donate to Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund that will be used for helping with evacuations, coping and recovering from the disaster, emergency payments for people whose homes were destroyed, support community recovery and many more.
WWF. The Australia Wildlife and Nature Recovery Fund has set to receive donations that will be used to care for injured wildlife and help restore forests.
Port Macquarie Koala Hospital. A donation can be made to a hospital that helps ensure the survival of koalas whose habitat was completely destroyed.
Foodbank is an organization that delivers emergency food relief and water, helping firefighters and local communities.
There are many more organizations that are doing wonderful things to help Australian wildlife and people affected. So we encourage to do your own research and consider donating to help our Mother Nature to recover.
With love,
MOTHER MADE
THE MOTHER MADE EDIT 