Australia's wildfires have burned across approximately 12.35 million acres of land since the season started, while authorities warn of more 'dangerous' fires over the weekend.
"The smoke is effectively terrible air pollution, but with higher amounts of dangerous smaller particles," Ilan Kelman, a professor of disasters and health at University College London, U.K., told. This means it can amplify the negative health effects of air pollution, such as asthma, heart and lung disease and strokes, as well as damage to fetuses.
But this season has been particularly severe."It has been an exceptionally bad season but that alone doesn't explain why it is on a scale never seen before," said Merzian.have helped to create what Matthew W. Jones, a senior research associate at the University of East Anglia, U.K., calls"the perfect conditions for fire."
While the season is far from over, the recovery process when it does eventually end can take years—"some people never fully recover," said Kelman. The key, he said, is to start preparing years in advance. That includes being ready to lose one's home. On top of the emotional fallout and environmental damage of the fires, there is the economic cost. The Insurance Council of Australia has already announced more than 5,000 claims worth $224 million dollars, Bloomberg reports. But that is only likely to increase as the fires continue.
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