Australia's 2019-2020 "Black Summer" bushfires burned more than eight million hectares of native vegetation and killed or displaced 1-3 billion animals, a government report said Tuesday, warning that more species are headed for extinction
This file photo taken on November 2, 2019 shows a dehydrated and injured koala receiving treatment at the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie, after its rescue from a bushfire. Australia's unique wildlife is in retreat as it reels from bushfires, drought, human activity and global warming, according to a "shocking" government report on July 19, 2022 that prompted calls for dramatic change. Image: Saeed Khan / AFP
Australia's unique wildlife is being devastated by bushfires, drought, habitat loss and global warming, a government report said Tuesday, warning that more species are headed for extinction.
The five-yearly State of the Environment report prompted calls for dramatic action to reverse the "poor and deteriorating" state of flora and fauna depicted by scientists on land and at sea.
The damage is being hastened by a climate that has warmed Australia's average land temperature by 1.4 degrees Celsius since the early 20th century, the report said.