Lexi Webster
Australia has experienced some of its worst bushfires in recent years. The 2019-2020 bushfires were the most catastrophic bushfire season in the country's history, with up to 19 million hectares burned, 33 lives lost, and around 3,094 homes destroyed. The bushfires also led to the deaths of over 3 billion animals and emitted an estimated 306 million tonnes of CO2. The scale of the bushfires is immense, with an immense impact on wildlife, natural landscapes, and the environment. The cost of dealing with the fires exceeded $4.4 billion, and the tourism sector lost more than $1 billion in revenue. Australia's northern savannah regions frequently experience large fires, but the 2019-2020 bushfires were notable for the loss of a record amount of forested areas in the more densely populated southern regions.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Bushfire season | 1 June to 31 May annually |
| Most deadly blazes | Black Saturday 2009 (173 people killed, 2,000 homes lost); Ash Wednesday 1983 (75 dead, nearly 1,900 homes); Black Friday 1939 (71 dead, 650 houses destroyed); Black Tuesday 1967 (62 people and almost 1,300 homes); Gippsland fires and Black Sunday of 1926 (60 people killed over a two-month period) |
| Number of deaths since 1851 | Over 800 |
| Total accumulated cost in 2012 | A$1.6 billion |
| Largest area burnt | 100–117 million hectares (250–290 million acres) during the 1974–75 bushfire season |
| Highest number of homes destroyed | Approximately 3,700 dwellings, attributed to Victoria's 1939 Black Friday bushfires |
| Area burnt during 2019-2020 bushfires | 18.626 million hectares (46.03 million acres) across all Australian states and territories; 19 million hectares according to another source |
| Number of deaths during 2019-2020 bushfires | 33 |
| Number of homes destroyed during 2019-2020 bushfires | 3,094 |
| Area burnt during 2023 bushfires | 84 million hectares of northern Australia |
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What You'll Learn
The 2019-2020 bushfires were the worst in Australian history
Up to 19 million hectares were burned, with 12.6 million hectares of forest and bushland. This included 80% of the Blue Mountains World Heritage area and 53% of the Gondwana World Heritage rainforests. The fires destroyed an estimated 3 billion animals and their habitats, with the true number likely to be much higher. The Insurance Council estimated that bushfire losses were approximately $A1.9 billion in insured claims, but the total economic impact is hard to calculate due to intangible losses such as income and productivity.
The bushfires also had a devastating human toll, with 33 lives lost and around 3,094 homes destroyed. The Australian government established the National Bushfire Recovery Agency and a $2 billion recovery fund to help coordinate and support the recovery of affected communities. The recovery process was slow, with some families still lacking adequate housing and access to basic services like water and sanitation two years on.
The 2019-2020 bushfires were a catastrophic event that highlighted the worsening trend of larger and more intense wildfires in Australia. The scale and severity of these fires were unprecedented, and the impacts will be felt for many years to come.
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The 2019-2020 fires burned 4.9 million hectares in NSW
The 2019-2020 Australian bushfires were the result of the country's hottest recorded year, coupled with drought and dry, warm conditions. The bushfire season started early, in June 2019, and the final fire was extinguished in March 2020.
The NSW Rural Fire Service deemed the 2019-2020 season the worst bushfire season in memory for the state. The fires destroyed 2,779 homes and killed at least 33 people in NSW and Australia-wide, respectively. An estimated one billion animals were killed, and some endangered species may have been driven to extinction.
The cost of dealing with the bushfires was expected to exceed the $4.4 billion of the 2009 Black Saturday fires, with the tourism sector losing more than $1 billion.
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Aboriginal fire-prevention programs have reduced acres burned by 57%
Australia has a long history of destructive bushfires, with the gradual drying of the continent over the last 6,000 years creating an environment prone to fire. The country has experienced some of the worst bushfire seasons in recent history, with the 2019-2020 bushfires causing massive damage and leading to the deaths of at least 33 people and over 3 billion animals.
Aboriginal fire-prevention programs have played a crucial role in reducing the impact of bushfires. These programs, which began in the 1980s and 1990s when Aboriginal groups returned to their native lands, focus on burning patch by patch using "cool" fires in targeted areas during the early dry season, typically between March and July. This defensive burning strategy reduces the undergrowth that fuels larger blazes, and has resulted in a significant decrease in the number of acres burned by bushfires.
The effectiveness of these Aboriginal fire-prevention programs is evident in the statistics. In 2019, the number of acres burned by destructive bushfires in northern Australia was 57% lower than the average number of acres burned annually from 2000 to 2010, before the program was implemented. This reduction in the scale of bushfires is a testament to the success of these cultural burning practices.
Cultural burning, also known as "good fire," is an Indigenous practice that involves the intentional lighting of smaller, controlled fires to promote the health of vegetation and animals that provide food, clothing, and ceremonial items. It is a form of stewardship that has been used for millennia by Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians to shape their land and reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires. In contrast to prescribed burns, cultural burning focuses on revitalizing the land rather than acreage and fuel reduction.
The benefits of cultural burning have been recognized beyond Aboriginal lands. In Canada, for example, the BC Wildfire Service has embraced centuries-old Indigenous practices of fire management, implementing controlled burns to prevent the accumulation of forest fuel. Similarly, in the United States, there has been a push to expand cultural burning practices across federal and tribal lands, with the understanding that there is much to learn from Indigenous knowledge and stewardship of the land.
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The 1925-26 Victorian bushfire season was the fifth most deadly
Australia has experienced many devastating bushfires, and the 1925-26 Victorian bushfire season was the fifth most deadly. Between 26 January and 10 March 1926, a series of major bushfires swept across the state of Victoria, resulting in the deaths of 60 people, injuries to 700, and the destruction of 1000 buildings and 390,000 hectares of land.
The 1925-26 bushfires are known for the Black Sunday fires on 14 February, which caused 31 fatalities in Warburton, near Melbourne. The fires originated in forest areas on 26 January, but strong winds caused the fire fronts to join on 14 February, leading to the extensive damage and loss of life. Other impacted areas included Noojee, Erica, and Kinglake, where St Mary's Church and Thompson's Hotel were among the destroyed buildings.
The 1925-26 Victorian bushfire season was one of the worst in the country's history, with large areas of Gippsland in Victoria affected. The Gippsland fires were responsible for the deaths of 60 people over a two-month period, making them the fifth-deadliest bushfires in Australia. The 1939 fire season was another of Australia's worst, with the Black Friday bushfires devastating Victoria and spreading to the urban fringes of Sydney, Melbourne, and Canberra.
The 2019-2020 bushfire season was also catastrophic, with fires across the country, including in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia. This season resulted in the deaths of at least 33 people and over 3 billion animals, with immense environmental destruction. The 2009 Victorian Bushfires, known as Black Saturday, were the deadliest in Australia's history, with 173 fatalities and 2000 homes lost.
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The 2019-2020 fires emitted 306 million tonnes of CO2
The 2019-2020 Australian bushfires were the most catastrophic bushfire season in the country's history. The fires started in June 2019, and the final fire was extinguished in March 2020. The fires were extreme in both their number and intensity, which were higher by a factor of 25 and 19, respectively, compared to the past two-decade seasonal mean. The east coast experienced widespread destruction from mega-blazes, with at least 4.9 million hectares burned or currently burning in New South Wales alone. The total area burned, excluding tropical savannah, stands at more than 7.7 million hectares.
The fires released substantial amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, estimated to be 715 teragrams (range 517-867) from November 2019 to January 2020. This is more than twice the estimate derived by five different fire inventories. The amount of carbon dioxide released by the fires is uncertain, but estimates using satellite observations of carbon monoxide suggest a higher value than those based on fire inventories.
The bushfires consumed a total of 112.3 teragrams of dry biomass, releasing a total of 178.6 ± 13.6 teragrams of carbon dioxide, 1.71 ± 1.3 teragrams of particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres, and 0.061 ± 0.04 teragrams of black carbon emissions. The CO2 emissions from the fires were equivalent to 35% of Australia's total greenhouse emissions from all sectors combined in 2020.
The Australian government has made a preliminary estimate of net emissions for the 2020 fire season of around 830 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, noting that the affected forests are expected to recover over time and generate a significant carbon sink in the coming years.
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Frequently asked questions
The 2019-2020 Australian bushfire was the most catastrophic bushfire season in the country's history. Approximately 18.62 million hectares (46 million acres) were burnt across all Australian states and territories.
The 2019-2020 bushfire burned an area of land that was 80 times larger than the total area burned in the 2019 California wildfires and larger than the 2019 Amazon blazes.
The 2019-2020 bushfire season was fueled by drought and extreme heat. Australia had also been warned that it was not prepared for the upcoming fire season due to escalating climate change risks.
Large bushfires can result in significant loss of life and property damage, and environmental damage. The cost of dealing with the 2019-2020 bushfire was expected to exceed $4.4 billion. The bushfire also emitted an estimated 306 million tons of CO2 and destroyed wildlife populations, with concerns that entire species of plants and animals may have been wiped out.
