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australia fires

Australia Bushfire Smoke Killed 12.6x More People Than Fires, Study Finds

Climate
A woman watches as she takes shelter at the beach as smoke from a bushfire is seen in Batemans Bay in New South Wales on Jan. 4. PETER PARKS / AFP / Getty Images

The Australian wildfires that burned for five months and destroyed millions of acres also killed 33 people. However, the smoke from the fires killed 12.6 times as many people. New research has shown that smoke from the fires killed 417 people and caused thousands of hospitalizations between October and February, as CBS News reported.

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climate crisis

Australia’s Summers Are Now Twice as Long as Its Winters

Climate
Demonstrators hold up placards outside the Australian Open venue during a climate protest rally in Melbourne on Jan.y 24. MANAN VATSYAYANA / AFP / Getty Images

The climate crisis has now stretched Australia's summers twice as long as its winters, a new report has found.

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australia fires

'Much-Needed' Rain Extinguishes a Third of Australia Fires in a Day

Climate
People commute to work on Feb.07 in Sydney, Australia. A severe weather warning is in place for Sydney and most of the NSW coast, with 130mm of rain predicted in Sydney alone. Brendon Thorne / Getty Images

The fire ravaged state of New South Wales in Australia received much-needed torrential downpours that doused active fires, reducing the total number by a third, as The Guardian reported. The number of active fires dropped from more than 60 to 42 in just one day.

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australia fires

Australian Supreme Court Halts Logging Project as Animals Seek New Habitat Amid Fire Destruction

Animals
A children school sign crossing is seen in front of burned trees in Mallacoota, Australia on Jan. 15. A logging project west of this area has been temporarily stopped to assess the health of native species. Luis Ascui / Getty Images

The Australian Supreme Court has stepped in to put an immediate halt to a logging project in east Victoria while it waits for cases about the health of native species to be heard in court, according the Brisbane Times.

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australia fires

3 U.S. Firefighters Die in Plane Crash While Battling Australia Fires

Climate
People are seen embracing at Numeralla Rural Fire Brigade near the scene of a water tanker plane crash on Jan. 23 in Cooma, Australia. Three American firefighters have have died after their C-130 water tanker plane crashed while battling a bushfire near Cooma in southern NSW this afternoon. Jenny Evans / Getty Images

Three U.S. firefighters gave their lives battling Australia's historic wildfires Thursday when their airborne water tanker crashed.

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trees

Australia Firefighters Save the Only Wild Prehistoric Wollemi Pines on Earth

Popular
The exact location of the prehistoric trees saved by firefighters has been kept a secret to protect them from contamination. NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment / CC BY 4.0

It looks as if firefighters in Australia have succeeded in saving a secret grove of prehistoric trees belonging to a species that dates back to the time of the dinosaurs.

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Australia Airdrops Thousands of Carrots, Sweet Potatoes to Wallabies Starving From Wildfires

Animals
A wallaby licks its burnt paws after escaping a bushfire on the Liberation Trail near the township of Nana Glen on the Mid North Coast of NSW, Nov. 12, 2019. Wolter Peeters / The Sydney Morning Herald / Fairfax Media / Getty Images

Carrots to the rescue!

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climate crisis

Australia Is Burning. Jakarta Is Drowning. Welcome to 2020.

Climate
A plume of bushfire smoke rises above Mount Taylor Road bordering local farm land on Jan. 11 in Karatta, Australia. Lisa Maree Williams / Getty Images

By Jeff Turrentine

At first glance, the images seem more like nightmares than real life. Blood-red skies that appear to have seeped into the earth below, staining it hellishly. Cyclone-like whirls with columns of flame at their centers. People and animals huddled close together on a beach, ready to jump into the ocean should the encroaching fires reach their makeshift camp and leave them with no choice.

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disinformation

Bushfires, Bots and Arson Claims: Australia Flung in the Global Disinformation Spotlight

Climate

The Kangaroo Island Fire in Australia early January 2020. A targeted, coordinated online campaign has tried to mislead the public. While the myths have been debunked, the culpable parties remain unknown. robdownunder / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

By Timothy Graham, Tobias R. Keller

In the first week of 2020, hashtag #ArsonEmergency became the focal point of a new online narrative surrounding the bushfire crisis.

The message: the cause is arson, not climate change.

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