In the decade to 2030, more than 2,400 lives will be lost to bushfires in Australia, with healthcare costs from smoke-related deaths tipped to reach $110m, new modelling led by Monash University suggests.
Australia’s fire season in late 2019 and early 2020 was extreme. It blew smoke some 20 miles into the sky, not unlike what a nuclear blast might cause. Smoke from the fires circled the globe and hovered in plumes over the Pacific.
Smoke from bushfires that spread across Australia in late 2019 and early 2020 destroyed high-altitude ozone in the Southern Hemisphere, according to a study that offers new insight into the threat posed by wildfires.
Last year, the country suffered catastrophic wildfires. Now, it is watching as a scenic getaway burns. What the rest of the season brings may depend on heat waves, winds and dried-out grass.
The smoke haze that choked a number of cities over summer contained toxic gases, according to one expert. It was so bad in Canberra one couple moved permanently to Melbourne.
