The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
More bushfires may be in store for Australia as its summer season progresses and climate change plays its role, says WMO
As bushfires rage on in Australia -- with devastating consequences in their aftermath -- there is a potential for further damage as the summer season in the Southern hemisphere progresses, the spokesperson for the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) told journalists on Tuesday.
“Catastrophic and unprecedented fires” are still raging in Australia, WMO spokesperson Clare Nullis told journalists in Geneva, adding that these “have killed more than 22 people, destroyed hundreds of homes, burnt hundreds of thousands of hectares of land and caused absolutely massive but massive devastation to wild life, to ecosystems and to the environment”.
As it is still relatively early in the Australian summer, temperatures are expected to rise by the end of the week and there is a potential for further fires as the season progresses, Nullis said.
Satellite imagery has been able to show some of extent of the devastation, and according to WMO and satellite reports, the smoke is in the process of circumnavigating the planet. “The fires have led to hazardous air quality, which is a threat to human health in major cities in Australia, spreading to New Zealand,” the WMO reported, adding that the smoke has “drifted thousands of kilometers across the Pacific to South America.” Meteorological services in both Chile and Argentina have reported that “the long-range transport of smoke had reached there. The sunset in Buenos Aires reportedly turned red, the sky in central Chile were grey because of this smoke”, Nullis said.
Harmful pollutants released by wildfires create hazardous air quality “including toxic gases”, the WMO spokesperson said, highlighting that a far-reaching consequence is that the natural recovery of the forests is hampered as the “fires emit carbon dioxide, and obviously they burn up those very forests which are so vital for acting as carbon sinks and absorbing carbon dioxide”.
Australia had been unusually dry and warm in 2019 as a result of climate change, setting the scene for a long and challenging fire season. Despite a brief respite currently, temperatures in Australia are set to rise again by the end of the week.
“Climate change is playing a role and we should be in no doubt about that,” Nullis said. Australia is projected to experience future increases in both sea and air temperatures, the country’s meteorological agency has predicted, characterized by “more hot days and marine heat waves and fewer cooler extremes,” she said. Average temperatures in Australia have already increased by 1 degree Celsius since records-keeping began.
- Wide shot: exterior, flag alley, Palais des Nations, United Nations Geneva.
- Wide shot, press briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Clare Nullis, Spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “Catastrophic and unprecedented fires have killed more than 22 people, destroyed hundreds of homes, burnt hundreds of thousands of hectares of land and caused absolutely massive but massive devastation to wild life, to ecosystems and to the environment”.
- Medium shot: podium
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Clare Nullis, Spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “The fires have led to hazardous air quality which is a threat to human health in major cities in Australia, spreading to New Zealand and sent smokes drifting thousands of kilometers across the Pacific to South America. Last night meteorological services in both Chile and Argentina are reported that the long-range transport of smoke had reached there. The sunset in Buenos Aires reportedly turned red, the sky in central Chile were grey because of this smoke”.
- Wide shot, press briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Clare Nullis, Spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “You know, in addition to the environmental devastation, wild fires do release harmful pollutants including particulate matter and toxic gases, such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and other organic compounds into the atmosphere. And again thanks to satellite imagery we can see these gases, we can see where they are going, we can see how dense they are. A longer term problem is that fires emit carbon dioxide and obviously they burn up those very forests which are so vital for acting as carbon sinks and absorbing carbon dioxide”.
- Close up, journalist
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Clare Nullis, Spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “On the one hand, you do have the natural climate variability, on the other hand climate change is playing a role and we should be in no doubt about that”.
- Medium shot, journalists
- SOUNDBITE (EN) - Clare Nullis, Spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “Australia is projected experience further increases in sea and air temperatures with more hot days and marine heat waves and fewer cooler extremes. This cooler extremes are very important. Decreases in rain fall across southern Australia with more time in drought, but an increase in intense heavy rain fall throughout Australia”.
- Wide shot, journalists
- Wide shot, journalists
- Close up, hands typing
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNFPA , OCHA , UNOG
UN agencies offered a dire assessment on Tuesday about the global impact of deep cuts to grassroots humanitarian funding by the incoming US administration and reiterated calls for Washington to retain its position as a global aid leader.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
While West Bank camp is destroyed, UNRWA delivers bulk of aid in Gaza
Large swathes of Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank have been completely destroyed following a series of controlled detonations by the Israeli security forces (ISF), the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN Human Rights Office on Friday raised the alarm about the growing human rights crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the UN bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva, UN Human Rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurence and the head of UN Human Rights Myanmar team James Rodehaver, describedunprecedented levels of killing in 2024, four years since the coup.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , UNRWA
The largest UN agency in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, UNRWA, said on Friday that its staff are still helping the people of Gaza and the West Bank including East Jerusalem who depend on them “for their sheer survival”, a day after the Israeli parliament ban on its activities entered into force.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WFP , WHO
Goma: ‘Critical’ moment for population caught in crossfire – UN humanitarians
In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), civilians caught up in heavy fighting face a “critical” 24 hours, with food and water running low and aid unable to enter, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNOG
Nazi death camp survivor Ivan Lefkovits shared harrowing testimony of his experiences on Monday to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day, with a timeless message for present and future generations: “Don't be neutral, especially not towards human suffering."
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office on Friday said it was “deeply concerned by the use of unlawful lethal force in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank”, as part of an ongoing Israeli military operation.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“We are deeply alarmed at the heightened risk of an attack by the M23 armed group on Goma, the capital of North Kivu, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo,” Ravina Shamdasani said.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNHCR
Intensifying hostilities in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo involving the non-state armed group M23 have caused further mass displacement in the mineral-rich region, with fears that the regional capital Goma could come under attack, UN agencies warned on Friday.
1
1
2
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
Aid is surging into Gaza “at scale” in line with the ceasefire agreement that has seen Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners released and families reunited, but massive needs remain across the devastated enclave, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
2
1
1
2
Edited News | WHO , OCHA , WMO
UN regrets US exit from global cooperation on health, climate change
UN agencies reacted with regret on Tuesday to the United States’ decisions to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Paris Agreement on climate change.