Impact of Australia's catastrophic 2019/20 bushfire season on communities and environment. Retrospective analysis and current trends

2019/20 Australia's bushfire season (Black Summer fires) occurred during a period of record-breaking temperatures and extremely low rainfall. To understand the impact of these climatic values we conducted a preliminary analysis of the 2019/20 bushfire season and compared it with the fire seasons between March 2000 and March 2020 in the states of New South Wales (NSW), Victoria, and South Australia (SA).

Smoke from bushfires significantly impacted on people with cardiovascular and respiratory problems and increased mortality. It also had an indirect impact on the economy by disrupting communities. The total impact of the 2019/20 bushfire season to the economy is estimated to be as much as A$40 billion. Due to the record burned area, at least 1 billion vertebrate animals were lost. This paper argues that it will take many years to restore the economy in impacted areas, and for animal and vegetation biodiversity to recover.