Essay Sample on Australia's 2019-2020 Bushfire Crisis: A Tragic Tale

Introduction

The end of the year 2019, and early 2020 has been tragic for Australia. The country has been fighting deadly forest fires for at least three months. Prolonged drought and strong dry winds coupled with extreme heat experienced in the state creates a conducive environment for the spreading of the fires. Australia is currently under a massive heatwave that has recorded the highest and hottest temperatures since September 2019. The Australian bushfires have created anxiety in Western Australia. As a result, Australians have to flee the southeastern coast and other parts of the country. In the New Year's Eve, the southern coast was under blood-red skies.

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The Australian bushfires, as of January 2nd, 2020, had killed not less than 25 people (Reid, Beilin, and McLennan, 2020). Nevertheless, the fire had and plundered an area as big as Denmark, destroying more than 2,000 homes and killing many wild and domestic animals (Reid, Beilin, and McLennan, 2020). There is a high possibility of the situation escalating as the country advances into the fire season. Despite several warnings from the authorities warning against possible severe conditions, some indigenous residents fail to hid the signals. Instead, they have chosen to stay behind to protect their homes and properties. The inability to cooperate with the authorities on evacuation notices makes it hard for the disaster management team to handle the situation effectively. There is a notion spreading in southwestern Australia that fleeing from the affected areas would be more dangerous than staying behind.

Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 1: A house on fire near Lake Conjola, New South Wales, on the evening of January 1st (Matthew Abbott, The New York Times)

The fire crisis in Australia has drawn the world's attention to the country. Many neighboring countries have joined hands in an attempt to handle the situation. Such countries include New Zealand and New Guinea. The two countries send rescue teams, troops and firefighters to offer support to the Australian disaster management teams. Various Pacific nations have also there provided support to fight the bushfires in New South Wales and Victoria. In the early stages of the crisis, the Australian bushfires were trending in the United States mainstream and digital media. As a result, the federal government of the United States sent firefighters to assist in combating the wildfires. At that time, the fires had burned approximately 12.36 million acres of forest land, killing not less than 17 people (Arriagada, Bowman, Palmer, and Johnston, 2020).

On 3rd January 2020, the United States killed Iranian Major General Qassim Suleimani in an airstrike operation in Iraq. Suddenly, the focus of the international media switched gear and was now focusing on the Qassim's killing, paying very little attention to the Australian bushfires. There was high tension between the United States and Iran. Many media houses reported of a possible war between the two countries. As a result, all the world's focus was on the two countries. The government of the United States started focusing on its security and staying alert for fears of possibilities of retaliation from Iran. Five days after the killing of Qassim, Iran fired more than 12 missiles to an American military camp based in Al Asad, the location for the orchestration of the airstrike that killed Qassim. Coincidentally, on the same day, a Ukrainian passenger plane, Flight 752, crashed in Iran. The two incidences drew the world's attention with anticipation that the crash was in connection with Iran's attack on the United States military base in Iraq. According to the Iranian foreign minister, the country's attack on the American forces was the end of the war. However, the Iranian government stated that the Ukrainian plane crash was a "human error." The prolonged tension between the two countries calmed down.

Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 2:The last respects for the Iranians Major General Qassim Suleimani in Mashhad on Sunday (New York Times)

The Australian bushfires are taking too long to combat due to the lack of enough attention towards the tragedy. The fires in Australia occurs at a time when talks on the effect of climate change in Australia were high. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison was under critics following his inability to address the issue of climate change. It is also ironic how the prime minister would go for a holiday in Hawaii when his country is experiencing tragic fires.

The occurrence of the fires alongside the United States - Iran tension divided the world's attention on the fire. Most of the international media failed to address the Australian bushfire as a top priority. They were mainly focusing on the possible war scenario between the US and Iran. Throughout the tension period that lasted for almost a week, President Donald Trump never posted anything about the Australian bushfires as he would do before. The United States was more concerned with protecting its citizens against attacks from Iran. Troops that would have been sent to Australia to curb the spread of the fire were busy defending the country.

Australian Bushfires were severe catastrophic events, the kind of that calls for international bodies' intervention. The United Nations on 3rd January 2020 through the United Children's Fund (UNICEF), offered humanitarian support to the Australian government. The support was not for battling the fire, but instead, provide support to the people suffering. The help also comes late after the fire had caused devastating effects in New South Wales and Victoria. The late intervention is an indication that most of the world did not pay much attention to the disaster. It is worth noting that the fire was as big as the size of some countries.

References

Arriagada, N.B., Bowman, D.M., Palmer, A.J. and Johnston, F.H., 2020. Climate Change, Wildfires, Heatwaves and Health Impacts in Australia. In Extreme Weather Events and Human Health (pp. 99-116). Springer, Cham.

Reid, K., Beilin, R. and McLennan, J., 2020. Communities and responsibility: Narratives of place-identity in Australian bushfire landscapes. Geoforum, 109, pp.35-43.