UN Geneva - Multimedia Newsroom : UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing: Australian Bushfire Update

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.

UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing: Australian Bushfire Update - WMO

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