This year’s record winter heat and low rainfall has not only led to severe drought, it has prompted many areas around Queensland, NSW and Victoria to announce their earliest total fire ban in history.
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In mid-August, firefighters battled hundreds of bushfires in all three states, raising concern among rural fire services about the fire season ahead.
Bushfires are known for the destruction they cause to forests, Australian homes and communities. However, not enough emphasis is made about how they impact human health.
Smoke from bushfires, which consists of a complex mix of gases and particulate matter, can penetrate deep into the lungs and worsen diseases such as asthma and bronchitis. These particles can also be absorbed into the bloodstream, triggering cardiovascular effects and even death.
Pollutants from bushfires affect air quality, not only locally, but up to thousands of kilometres away from their source. This has been linked to increased cardiovascular mortality rates and increased out-of-hospital cardiac arrests – reported in both Melbourne and Sydney – on high bushfire smoke days.
It’s not just the harmful physiological effects that are worrying. Bushfires also have significant psychological impacts on those who experience them. People whose lives were at risk, or who lost loved ones or homes, had pets or livestock killed, and their livelihoods destroyed, find it hard to come to terms with what has happened.
These impacts may lead to depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder.
Extreme fire weather has increased in Australia during the past 30 years, and modelling of weather projections show increasingly hot and dry conditions over the coming decades. This will result in more frequent and severe bushfires, which will devastate regional communities on a regular basis.
Man-made climate change is contributing to higher global temperatures and changes in weather patterns. Rather than ignoring the root cause of this issue, Australia should be taking more drastic measures to decrease reliance on fossil fuels and transition to renewable energy.
If we immediately make the switch towards a more sustainable future, we give ourselves the best chance of reducing the severe consequences of climate change.
The health of our farmers, firefighters, rural communities – frankly every Australian resident – depends on it.
Dr Beau Frigault is the Queensland Chair of Doctors for the Environment Australia