Black Saturday Bushfire Essay
Introduction
During the final week of January 2009, Victoria endured one of its most severe and prolonged heatwaves. The temperature in Melbourne was above 43°C for three consecutive days for the first time since records had been kept. Saturday 7 February was forecast to reach temperatures in the low 40s, accompanied by strong winds, igniting many bushfires across Victoria. (Jose, 2010) This report will explain the social, environmental, and economic effects of the Black Saturday bushfire, as well as bushfires causes and how to stay safe during the bushfire season. Location
Victoria is a state in The South-East of Australia and is home to Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city. With an area of 227,594 km² (87,874.5 sq mi), it is geographically …show more content…
It affects injury, loss of life, lasting health problems, business, communities and income. In the affected areas, many services that many citizens relied – power, gas, telephones and the internet had been damaged or destroyed (Jose, 2015). Due to the loss of power it consequently resulted in loss of communication - many people were not informed about the risks and dangers of bushfires and many were traumatised when it occurred (Bush Fires Australia, 2011).
These were the social impacts evident according to the Black Saturday bushfires, 2015:
The death of 173 people
The injury of 414 people
The loss of over 2,100 homes that displaced 7,562 people
The fires destroyed over 2,400 other structure Environmental Effects
A bushfire is one that affects the environment in both good and bad ways. On one hand, the flame is beneficial to nature, for some plants utilize the conditions provided by the fire to germinate and while other plants that burn down have adapted to survive, as have the creatures that utilization them as a habitat. Despite the fact that bushfires still can have consequences for the environment including loss of widely varied vegetation and changes the atmosphere such as increased levels of CO2 in the air, the creation of large volumes of smoke and ash and localised change in
During the final week of January 2009, Victoria endured one of its most severe and prolonged heatwaves. The temperature in Melbourne was above 43°C for three consecutive days for the first time since records had been kept. Saturday 7 February was forecast to reach temperatures in the low 40s, accompanied by strong winds, igniting many bushfires across Victoria. (Jose, 2010) This report will explain the social, environmental, and economic effects of the Black Saturday bushfire, as well as bushfires causes and how to stay safe during the bushfire season. Location
Victoria is a state in The South-East of Australia and is home to Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city. With an area of 227,594 km² (87,874.5 sq mi), it is geographically …show more content…
It affects injury, loss of life, lasting health problems, business, communities and income. In the affected areas, many services that many citizens relied – power, gas, telephones and the internet had been damaged or destroyed (Jose, 2015). Due to the loss of power it consequently resulted in loss of communication - many people were not informed about the risks and dangers of bushfires and many were traumatised when it occurred (Bush Fires Australia, 2011).
These were the social impacts evident according to the Black Saturday bushfires, 2015:
The death of 173 people
The injury of 414 people
The loss of over 2,100 homes that displaced 7,562 people
The fires destroyed over 2,400 other structure Environmental Effects
A bushfire is one that affects the environment in both good and bad ways. On one hand, the flame is beneficial to nature, for some plants utilize the conditions provided by the fire to germinate and while other plants that burn down have adapted to survive, as have the creatures that utilization them as a habitat. Despite the fact that bushfires still can have consequences for the environment including loss of widely varied vegetation and changes the atmosphere such as increased levels of CO2 in the air, the creation of large volumes of smoke and ash and localised change in