Component

Impacts

Air

Ÿ In fire-affected states, air quality has been destroyed [62] , and the Air Quality Index (AQI) has been raised [63] .

Ÿ According to a NASA survey conducted in mid-December 2019, the wildfires in New South Wales and Queensland have produced 250 million tonnes of CO2 since 1 August. NASA later reported that as of January 2, 2020, 306 million tonnes of CO2 had been released [64] .

Ÿ Fine particles known as PM2.5 were detected at 734 g (0.01133 gm) in Sydney, which is the equivalent of 37 cigarettes and Smoke gave the snow a brown tint, and the sky in Auckland turned orange [65] .

Soil

Ÿ Australia’s bushfires in 2019/2010 devastated millions of hectares of land, destroying both above-ground plant and under-ground root systems and soil.

Ÿ The fire in the year 2019-20 was strong enough to radiate heat into the underlying soil layers that lost the soil’s aggregate, soil organic matter and essential nutrients.

Water

Ÿ In Australia, cyanobacterial blooms and an imbalanced aquatic ecology have been recorded. Organic matter, salts and metal trace from ash burned vegetation into the water source have been observes regarding the 2019/20 season which reduced dissolved oxygen triggering fish deaths in Australia.

Ÿ Following the 2019 bushfires, rainstorm transported a considerable amount of ash into groundwater in NSW and other impacted states, resulting in higher chlorine levels, turbidity and an unpleasant smell [79] .

Biodiversity

Ÿ About 143 million animals, 2.46 billion reptiles, 181 million birds, and 51 million frogs were affected [59] . According to a report of Aljazeera.com, at least 3 billion terrestrial vertebrates were moved or killed by the 2019/20 bushfires [80] .

Ÿ The Kate’s leaf-tailed gecko’s habitat was completely destroyed by the fires, while the long-footed potoroo’s habitat was reduced by more than 80% [81] .

Ÿ Kangaroo Island forest land, which is the last habitat of Kangaroo Island dunnarts and Kangaroo Island glossy black cockatoos, was devastated to the tune of 33% [82] .

Ÿ According to NASA, the number of deceased koalas on Kangaroo Island could be as high as 25,000, or roughly half of the species’ overall population [83] .

Ÿ One-quarter of Kangaroo Island’s Ligurian honey bee hives were destroyed [84] .

Ÿ After the mega-fires, the assassin of Spider and Microtrapdoor Spider of the Kangaroo Island was not found until the results of the study were discovered and it was thought that they were completely destroyed or displaced [85] .

Food safety

Ÿ Agricultural production, as well as average farm income, has fallen by 8% in 2019/20, some 4% below the Australian 10 year average [86] .

Ÿ The farm income in the NSW following 2019/20 bushfires was almost zero, according to ABARES. As poor as the last 20 years and significantly lower than the average in certain territories [86] .

Ÿ Total agricultural exports from Australia are expected to decrease in 2019-20 by 11% to USD 43 billion [86] .

Human health

Ÿ 417 people died of heavy smoke following the 2019 season of bush fires [87] .

Ÿ After the black summer bush fire, the most frequent complaints were eye and throat pain, cough and headaches [88] .

Ÿ Bushfire smoke caused 2027 people in respiratory problems and 1305 persons with asthma-related conditions in hospitals according to a recent study [88] .

Ÿ Around 1100 people were hospitalized caused by cardiovascular complications due to fires

Ÿ Activities at Canberra Hospital were delayed by bushfire smoke contaminating the interior air, which impacted MRI machines, and numerous surgeries were postponed during the 2019-20 bushfires [89] .

Ÿ In “highly impacted” communities where people died or property was damaged, people suffered more than twice as much from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and mental anxiety.