Daily Times

Significant portions of Australia’s southeast coast are completely blanketed in thick smoke, as revealed by these upsetting new satellite images.

New images posted to NASA’s Earth Observatory show the grim effects of Australia’s historically bad wildfire season, which continues to worsen.

The wildfires, which began September, have so far killed at least 25 people. The fires have burned an area about twice the size of the state of Maryland, torching about 2,000 houses and, according to the Associated Press. Additionally, Australia’s wildlife has suffered tremendously, with countless animals losing their lives to the fires.

The fires likely started naturally, though experts think human-caused climate disruption has exacerbated hot arid conditions that fuel the growth of such blazes. Current estimates suggest eastern Australia’s bushfire crisis has scorched more than 14 million acres of land, killed about half a billion animals, and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

According to the Bushfires and Natural Hazards CRC, catastrophic fire danger ratings have now been issued in New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia and Victoria.

It said: “​Queensland and New South Wales, in particular, have experienced severe fires, but all states have had challenging fire conditions.

Almost 15 million acres of land have burned so far, compared with two million acres in California in 2018. But to get a visual sense of the sheer scale of the fires, it’s worth looking at them from space. This NASA image, taken on Saturday, shows smoke billowing from country’s east coast.

Looking at this smoke-covered image, it’s easy to see why residents are reporting dark, night-like conditions during the daytime.

The unprecedented wildfire situation in Australia appears to be going from bad to worse. Fires during the past several weeks have forced people from their homes. Australians have described many terrifying situations, including chaos in Mallacoota when the only route out of the area was blocked by fire, forcing residents, tourists, and firefighters to seek refuge on a beach. New South Wales has implemented a seven-day state of emergency that takes effect today, as conditions are expected to deteriorate even further. The state of emergency will likely include some forced evacuations.