The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
More bushfires may be in store for Australia as its summer season progresses and climate change plays its role, says WMO
As bushfires rage on in Australia -- with devastating consequences in their aftermath -- there is a potential for further damage as the summer season in the Southern hemisphere progresses, the spokesperson for the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) told journalists on Tuesday.
“Catastrophic and unprecedented fires” are still raging in Australia, WMO spokesperson Clare Nullis told journalists in Geneva, adding that these “have killed more than 22 people, destroyed hundreds of homes, burnt hundreds of thousands of hectares of land and caused absolutely massive but massive devastation to wild life, to ecosystems and to the environment”.
As it is still relatively early in the Australian summer, temperatures are expected to rise by the end of the week and there is a potential for further fires as the season progresses, Nullis said.
Satellite imagery has been able to show some of extent of the devastation, and according to WMO and satellite reports, the smoke is in the process of circumnavigating the planet. “The fires have led to hazardous air quality, which is a threat to human health in major cities in Australia, spreading to New Zealand,” the WMO reported, adding that the smoke has “drifted thousands of kilometers across the Pacific to South America.” Meteorological services in both Chile and Argentina have reported that “the long-range transport of smoke had reached there. The sunset in Buenos Aires reportedly turned red, the sky in central Chile were grey because of this smoke”, Nullis said.
Harmful pollutants released by wildfires create hazardous air quality “including toxic gases”, the WMO spokesperson said, highlighting that a far-reaching consequence is that the natural recovery of the forests is hampered as the “fires emit carbon dioxide, and obviously they burn up those very forests which are so vital for acting as carbon sinks and absorbing carbon dioxide”.
Australia had been unusually dry and warm in 2019 as a result of climate change, setting the scene for a long and challenging fire season. Despite a brief respite currently, temperatures in Australia are set to rise again by the end of the week.
“Climate change is playing a role and we should be in no doubt about that,” Nullis said. Australia is projected to experience future increases in both sea and air temperatures, the country’s meteorological agency has predicted, characterized by “more hot days and marine heat waves and fewer cooler extremes,” she said. Average temperatures in Australia have already increased by 1 degree Celsius since records-keeping began.
- Wide shot: exterior, flag alley, Palais des Nations, United Nations Geneva.
- Wide shot, press briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Clare Nullis, Spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “Catastrophic and unprecedented fires have killed more than 22 people, destroyed hundreds of homes, burnt hundreds of thousands of hectares of land and caused absolutely massive but massive devastation to wild life, to ecosystems and to the environment”.
- Medium shot: podium
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Clare Nullis, Spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “The fires have led to hazardous air quality which is a threat to human health in major cities in Australia, spreading to New Zealand and sent smokes drifting thousands of kilometers across the Pacific to South America. Last night meteorological services in both Chile and Argentina are reported that the long-range transport of smoke had reached there. The sunset in Buenos Aires reportedly turned red, the sky in central Chile were grey because of this smoke”.
- Wide shot, press briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Clare Nullis, Spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “You know, in addition to the environmental devastation, wild fires do release harmful pollutants including particulate matter and toxic gases, such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and other organic compounds into the atmosphere. And again thanks to satellite imagery we can see these gases, we can see where they are going, we can see how dense they are. A longer term problem is that fires emit carbon dioxide and obviously they burn up those very forests which are so vital for acting as carbon sinks and absorbing carbon dioxide”.
- Close up, journalist
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Clare Nullis, Spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “On the one hand, you do have the natural climate variability, on the other hand climate change is playing a role and we should be in no doubt about that”.
- Medium shot, journalists
- SOUNDBITE (EN) - Clare Nullis, Spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “Australia is projected experience further increases in sea and air temperatures with more hot days and marine heat waves and fewer cooler extremes. This cooler extremes are very important. Decreases in rain fall across southern Australia with more time in drought, but an increase in intense heavy rain fall throughout Australia”.
- Wide shot, journalists
- Wide shot, journalists
- Close up, hands typing
Similar Stories
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | UNAIDS
World AIDS Day 2025: Overcoming disruption, transforming the AIDS response
1
1
1
Edited News | UN WOMEN
Gaza women are ‘last line of protection’ for their families amid attacks, hunger and harsh winter – UN Women
Women in Gaza are ensuring their families’ survival “with nothing but courage and exhausted hands” while violence continues and essentials remain in short supply, the UN’s gender equality agency warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Since the ceasefire began on 27 November 2024, Israeli military strikes in Lebanon have killed at least 127 civilians. Nearly a year later, these attacks continue to increase, causing civilian deaths and damage to civilian structures.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | UNCTAD
A new report by UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) finds that the prolonged military operation and long-standing restrictions have driven the economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territory into its most severe contraction on record, wiping out decades of development gains and deepening fiscal and social fragility.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO , WFP
Ongoing attacks and airstrikes attributed to Israeli forces in Gaza continue to kill and maim people of all ages in the shattered enclave despite an agreed ceasefire, UN agencies said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , OCHA
Gaza: After Security Council vote humanitarians urge aid scale-up as winter rains hit families hard
Following the UN Security Council’s Monday endorsement of a US peace plan for Gaza, UN humanitarians urged prioritizing aid access under the scheme as severe rains and flooding deepened Palestinian suffering.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , UNMAS , WHO
Just how many people are still trapped in the Sudanese city of El Fasher?
That’s the burning question for relatives of the many thousands of people believed to still be there, since paramilitary fighters overran the regional capital of North Darfur last month, after a 500-day siege.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva, UN Human Rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan made the following remarks on the ongoing violence in the occupied WestBank.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At a Special Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva today, the UN Human Rights Chief, Volker Türk made the following remarks on the situation in El-Fasher, Sudan.
2
1
2
Statements , Conferences , Edited News | HRC
UN Human Rights Council holds special session on Sudan as mass atrocities reported in El Fasher
The UN Human Rights Council convened an emergency session on Friday on the situation in and around El Fasher, Sudan, following reports of mass killings in the North Darfur capital. States passed a resolution that will mandate an investigation into likely mass atrocities during the capture of El Fasher by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on 26 October.
1
1
2
Edited News | UN WOMEN
Sudan: Women’s bodies ‘a crime scene’ as tens of thousands flee El Fasher atrocities – UN Women
In war-torn Sudan, rape is being systematically used as a weapon and simply being a woman is “a strong predictor” of hunger, violence and death, the UN’s gender equality agency warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN human rights office (OHCHR) on Friday called for an end to continuing expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, where “unchecked” settler violence has surged since the war in Gaza began more than two years ago.