“Australian Fires Have Incinerated the Habitats of up to 100 Threatened Species.”

Olivia Conniff

Mr. Ippolito 

AP Biology

12/13/20

Current Event 13

Pickrell, John. “Australian Fires Have Incinerated the Habitats of up to 100 Threatened Species.” Science News, 12 Jan. 2020, www.sciencenews.org/article/australian-fires-incinerated-habitats-threatened-species-ecological-disaster.

For my 13th current event, I chose to read the article “Australian Fires Have Incinerated the Habitats of up to 100 Threatened Species” by John Pickrell. Pickrell describes the current situation in Australia, where, as of yesterday, nearly 11 million hectares of land have been burned by the bushfires which have been going on for months. Over 2,200 homes have burned to the ground and 29 people have been killed, and there are still two months of this season of fires left. Australia is certainly no stranger to wildfires, as they typically experience them around this time of year, but never of this caliber. These bushfires are particularly bad due to a combination of extreme heat, prolonged drought, and strong winds. The country is also in the middle of an immense heatwave, in mid-December having its hottest day in history. The cause of this is global climate change. These bushfires are a prime example of the catastrophic effect climate change is having on the planet. Christopher Dickman, an ecologist at the University of Sydney provided that information that over 1 billion animals have been killed so far. However, this number does not even include bats, frogs, and invertebrates. “Invertebrates make up more than 95 percent of animal species and the vast majority of animal biomass,” says Mike Lee, a biologist at the South Australian Museum in Adelaide. This means that invertebrate losses alone could be in the trillions. Many habitats have been completely decimated as well, which will cause effects that will carry on even after the fires are long over. “We haven’t seen a fire season like this ever before,” says Euan Ritchie, an ecologist at Deakin University in Melbourne. “Climate scientists and ecologists predicted these worse fires as a result of climate change and we’re now seeing them happen.”

The subject of this article is extremely important, as these bushfires in Australia are very present in the news right now, and are a prime example of the disastrous effects of climate change. From hearing just how terrible the conditions in Australia are right now, it is clear that we need to take bigger steps in order to slow the effects of climate change and protect our planet. One may think that as an average person, there are not many things we can do to limit carbon emissions as most of them come from industry and agriculture, but there are actually many small things that can be done, that if enough people do them, can make a difference. Transportation makes up for a whopping 29% of carbon emissions, meaning that if we try to use more public transportation, walk places, or bike places, we are actually helping to do our part. Electricity also makes up for 28% of carbon emissions, meaning if we try to shut off lights or other appliances anytime we don’t need them on, we are helping. These may seem like trivial, useless things but if we all try to do our part we can make a difference. That is why this article is so important and relevant because it can inspire people to try to do better to protect the planet.

For the most part, I believe that Pickrell’s article is very well-written and effective at communicating the intended message. He uses quotes from experts as well as reliable statistics, which make the article a lot more professional and credible. He keeps his descriptions concise and clear, not including irrelevant information, merely to fill the page. He also included a great deal of background information on fires in Australia in the past which I found extremely helpful and informative. One thing I believe could improve the article would be if Pickrell included more background information on the climate crisis itself, as I had to go to some outside sources to find this information. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed Pickrell’s article.