A black summer
DURING THE SPRING and summer of 2019-2020, Australia experienced a catastrophic bushfire season with tragic loss of life and extensive destruction of and damage to property, natural landscapes and native and domesticated animals. The full economic losses are yet to be calculated but the timing of the crisis, during the traditional Australian summer break, has had a serious impact on domestic and international tourism.
On the following pages is a visual explanation and summary of the causes and effects of the bushfire emergency as it was in early February 2020 and with some weeks of the usual annual bushfires season in the southern states of Australia yet to go.
We look at some of the record-breaking statistics and put this year’s fire season in the context of major fire emergencies and events throughout the past 100 years. We describe the forces and systems that drive weather and climate in our own region and place them into the context of warming climate trends globally. We show the processes in which large intense bushfires create their own weather, which in
