The world is burning, as they say, in some places literally. The last few years have seen a global increase in wild fires around the world. Just last year, California's deadly wildfire burned more than 2 million acres of land, and made headlines all over the world. And who could forget the Amazon rainforest fire that burned up more than 2 million acres of forest land once again.
Unfortunately, these are not the worst of the news. The current bushfires of Australia, an annual occurrence in the region every summer, caught the world's attention for all the wrong reasons. Approximately 12 million acres of land have burned down in the current fires, and it is estimated that more than half a billion animals have died.
There were also fires in Siberia recently, which were much larger than the Amazon fires in size, but the areas were not populous, and resulted in less casualties than the other fires. While the other fires have either been put out completely or taken under control, Australia's areas are far from close to ending. The region is in the middle of its fire season, and the fires started in the middle of a heatwave that recorded its hottest and simultaneously the driest spring on record, as The New York Times reported.
The continuing heat and dry weather might not cool down any time soon. The fires gained worldwide attention last week when pictures of red skies and smoke-filled cities across Australia started circulating the internet.
The state of New South Wales has been the most affected, and all the major cities have been engulfed in smoke and flames. Most of the damage is concentrated in New South Wales.
Bushfires aren't a new phenomenon for Australia, but due to recent climate change, scientists are predicting that the fires will get even more dangerous in the coming years.
Infographic on: https://www.statista.com
