STORIES THAT SHAPED THE WORLD

Australia on fire

Australians are all too familiar with the devastation brought on by the annual bushfire season and after a period of record-breaking temperatures and severe drought, the signs were already looking ominous in mid-2019.

Things turned catastrophic as the calendar flipped over into 2020 and the entire world watched in horror as flames engulfed the country’s south-east coast. The intense blazes saw residents flee under blood-red skies. Over 18 million hectares burned, destroying 5900 buildings and killing at least one billion animals – more than 100 species required emergency intervention to survive.

“It’s been extraordinary, it’s been unprecedented,” Ben Shepherd from the NSW Rural Fire Service said of the Black Summer bushfires. “And hopefully it’s one that none of us here will ever