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Why the Australian Bushfires aren’t a Big Deal
The continent is burning, but it’s not the end of the world
I’m in Australia right now. It’s like a post-apocalyptic movie. There is smoke everywhere. “Hazardous” is as high as the Air Quality Index goes, and some days it is ten or twenty or thirty times as high as that level. Not just near the fires, but in the national capital. In New Zealand, three hours flying time away on the other side of the Tasman Sea, their cities get Australian smoke, and their high mountain glaciers are turning rust-brown from Australian ash.
The South Coast of New South Wales, packed with holiday-makers at this time of year, has been evacuated. Hours-long traffic jams on the narrow coastal highways. People desperate for food and water. No power, no fuel, no mobile coverage. Smoke in the air and bushfire warnings.
In some coastal towns, the day turned black with thick smoke over the sun, fires approached, and residents were ordered into the sea to escape the flames. Vast swathes of bushland burned, millions of animals died, houses and villages were destroyed, and the death toll is mounting up.
Today — Saturday 4 January — is predicted to be another bad day with soaring temperatures and winds encouraging wildfires. Dozens of towns are at risk, especially in the Snowy…
