Australia Wildfires and the Cost of Global Inaction

The Shocking Numbers Associated With Australia's Wildfires

More than 11.3 million acres of land has been burned so far. This represents an area larger than Belgium.

Ecologists from the University of Sydney predict around 480 million mammals, birds and reptiles have died, incuding 30% of the Koala Bear population. Nearly half a billion. With their natural habitats destroyed many more will meet extinction.

This season, at least 1,298 homes have been destroyed, according to the New South Wales Rural Fire Service.

Thousands of people have been evacuated from the most affected areas, while tens of thousands elsewhere were left without power.

In the coastal town of Mallacoota, some 4,000 people headed to the beach to escape the fire, only to be stranded on the shoreline after being cut off by the blaze. The government has since sent a Navy ship to carry people out in batches of about 800 at a time.

The deadliest part of fires is smoke inhalation. The thick smoke plumes combined represent an area the size of Europe.

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