Australia: Robert Irwin fights back tears discussing bushfires
The popular tourist hotspot of Kangaroo Island has been devastated by the fires, and NASA images show the true devastation. The island off the coast of Adelaide, South Australia, is home to many endangered bird species, such as glossy black-cockatoos which have, in the past two decades, been brought back from the brink of extinction. Roughly a third of the island is a National Park containing protecting wildlife, but before and after NASA images reveal just how much destruction has been brought by the raging fires – which were started by lightning strikes.
The first image from December 16, 2019, shows Kangaroo Island still a luscious green colour but the second image, on January 7, 2020, shows Australia’s third largest island scorched with fires still blazing.
NASA said the fires are an “ecological disaster” with the island being such a haven for wildlife.
The space agency said: “In the western part of Kangaroo Island, specifically in Flinders Chase National Park, penguin colonies and famous coastal rock formations are found.
“Kangaroo Island is Australia’s third largest island after Tasmania and Melville Island. In addition to it being a very popular tourist destination for both Australians and nature lovers, the island even boasts a colony of Ligurian honey bees which are the world’s only pure-bred and disease-free population of this type of bee.
“Which makes the devastating bushfires that have laid waste to almost one-third of the island not only just a major tragedy for the island but an ecological tragedy as well.
“The bushfires began as lightning strikes within Flinders Chase National Park. Ecologists within the park put estimates of the number of koalas that have perished in the fire at 25,000 which is half the island’s population of the popular animals.
“NASA’s fleet of satellites are able to monitor from their various satellites the extent of the damage and the areas continuing to burn which assist firefighters in fighting these major disasters.
“The devastation can clearly be seen as one-third of the island (155,000 hectares/383,013 acres) shows burn scars as well as areas that are still on fire.”
Australia fires: NASA reveals ‘ecological disaster’ in pics as Kangaroo Island scorched
Almost 2,000 homes have been burned to rubble as fires take their cataclysmic toll across Australia.
Since September, at least 25 people have lost their lives and upwards of half a billion animals have perished as a result of the worst wildfires in Australia’s human history.
Officials say the blaze could last for yet another month as the situation refuses to ease. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison more than £53,000 would be released for disaster relief with more than £1bn committed to recovery over the next two years.
The Australian federal government department responsible for managing emergencies even shut its Canberra office due to poor air quality on Monday.