Concerted climate actions imperative

On Saturday, the local authorities asked the residents on French Island of Australia to evacuate because of the wildfires.

For the koala, a unique species of Oceania, it is news that is worse than bad. Scientists estimate the total number of koalas in the wild to be around 80,000, but by early January there had already been over 20,000, or one-fourth of the total, killed in the Australian wildfires.

French Island has long been considered one of the last castles of the species because the koalas there are healthier than on the rest of the continent. Researchers and animal protection organizations often use koalas from French Island to breed groups in the rest of Australia, but now those on French Island also face grave challenges.

Koala are only one of the unique species of Oceania that face the threat of their numbers being decimated by the wildfires. On Kangaroo Island, which features the animal after which it is named, fires have burned 48 percent of the bush, and the black cockatoo, a kind of parrot which faces extinction, takes Kangaroo Island as its last residence and is under grave threat.

Besides the wildfires, Australia faces new challenges from nature. According to reports, a heavy storm hit Queensland and caused floods that threaten the survival of animals there. Worse, some photos taken by residents in New South Wales show that the rain there was as black as ink, possibly caused by the heavy smoke of the bushfires.

The bushfires and extreme weather events in Australia are threatening biodiversity there more seriously than we can imagine.

It is the El Nino effect that caused the extreme dryness in Australia in 2019, and the general tendency for rising temperatures made it extremely hot in the year. In such dryness and hot temperature, it is easier for bushfires to ignite, and it is difficult for firefighters, limited in hands, to put them out.

Australia might be a first victim due to its location and geographic features, but it will not be the last. Unless all the major countries in this world join hands, it would be difficult to prevent similar disasters from happening elsewhere.