BY HAMAH HOSEN –
Australian Summers are typically associated with the positive imagery of hanging out in the sun on sandy beaches with blue skies as the backdrop. But what people don’t consider is the sweltering and dry weather conditions and, most importantly, the impacts it brings to the whole country. The past couple of months have been met with news of continued drought, catastrophic bushfires, and destroyed wildlife. And last week’s hot weather was no different.
On the 17th of December, the Bureau of Meteorology revealed that it was Australia’s hottest day on record with an average temperature across the country of 40.9 degrees Celsius. But what followed on from that day, was a continued heatwave across the country that is expected to throw December heat records out. In particular, the national location record for December was broken twice within the space of a few hours on Thursday. Firstly, in Eucla, Western Australia reaching 49.8C before being bypassed by South Australia’s Nullarbor weather station recording 49.9C.
In Melbourne, in particular, we experienced a high temperature of 43 degrees on Friday, the 20th of December. But within 24 hours, Melbourne’s weather had calmed back down to 23 degrees. The cool change of returning to an average December day seemed to occur over the weekend. And just like that, most of the people in Melbourne continued with their lives, perhaps preparing for the holiday season, as if Friday was just a blip. But the thing is, it hasn’t calmed down. At least not for some parts of Australia.
Now I can’t speak for every city and state in Australia, but it seems that the continued impacts of the hot weather lead me to believe that Friday was not just a blip. The fires themselves have been devastating. It’s been disastrous for wildlife. For the families. For the Firefighters and Volunteers. And the fact that they are continuing beyond the recent week of hot weather says a lot. Homes have been lost. Lives have been lost. Koala populations considered at a tipping point
No one and no State can leave this summer without having experienced the impacts of these fires. Already there has been at least 3.65m hectares burned or currently burning in New South Wales and Queensland. Which on face value might seem hard to imagine the magnitude of the fires, but through an interactive map, we can see the terrifying reality of our country on fire.
I’d like to think that myself and a lot of my friends in Melbourne have been incredibly lucky not to have to face the immediate threats from the bushfires. Yet I can’t say the same for my friends back in New South Wales. My group chats lately tend to be filled with pictures of fire maps & warnings and questions of whether people are safe. This contrasts with what you’d typically expect a group chats to be talking about over the summer. But it also contrasts with the experiences or lack of experiences that I am having in Melbourne. One of my friends, Keegan Hayne, in Wollongong stated:
“We’ve been on high alert for several days in case the fires get any closer to us, and I can’t even imagine what it’s like in Sydney, the Southern Highlands and down the coast where the fires are in full force. It’s so bad where we are. It’s insane to imagine that its worst in other places, even though we know, it is.”
Keegan Hayne
One of my other friends had shared with me photos of road closures that were occurring as a result of the fires. Indicating the scary reality that they don’t have much of an escape if the fires escalate.
In contrast, where I’m located seems to be at low-risk to be touched by the bush fires that were occurring in the southwest and southeast parts of Victoria over the last couple of days. It appears that we are physically out of touch or distanced by the experiences and reality that has been facing a lot of other states. It was only on that Friday that Melbourne was impacted with a smoke haze as a result of the smoke from the bushfires in New South Wales.
Seeming to be one of the first points of contact with the impacts that have been felt in other parts of the country. In particular, those in New South Wales have encountered smoke-filled skies and bad air quality for over a month. Some of my friends noted that they had to wear masks when going out or, for the first time, had to consider buying a puffer. Some of my friends mentioned that the smoke was so bad that smoke alarms were going off in the city. My friend Keegan also stated:
“we’ve had some awful days of smoke where you just cannot go outside without your eyes stinging and getting a cough really quickly. There’s been days where we haven’t been able to see the mountains that we’re sat right next to and it looks like it’s going to storm any minute but it’s just smoke”.
Keegan Hayne
At one stage, the smoke was even considered to be on par with the most polluted cities in the world.
What is happening in Australia is disastrous and terrifying. Undoubtedly, we’ve all heard about it and how the government is lacking in action and support. But for me, another eye-opening part of this is how easily a nation-wide problem can be seen as something detached. I don’t necessarily think it’s anyone’s fault. It could be due to a lack of information, a lack of reach physically by distance, or the lack of personal connection, perhaps. For me personally, I don’t think I would’ve given this problem this much consideration or felt this strong sense of connection if it wasn’t affecting my friends and the places I have been before. A problem this large and complex requires collective action. So I guess the question is, how do we make this nation-wide problem feel like it is a nation-wide problem that deserves our attention, our support, and also action? Your world could be on fire, but to some, theirs is fine.
