480 million animals are estimated dead in Australia’s fires
480 million animals are estimated dead in Australia’s fires

Researchers at the University of Sydney estimate the bushfires in Australia have already led to the deaths of some 480 million animals.

There’s an almost inconceivable tragedy playing out among the continent’s animal population. As usual, those who bear the least responsibility for creating the conditions for the disaster are bearing the brunt of it.

The images emerging from Australia, a continent that has been on fire for months, seem to document one of the first great spasms of an ecology thrown out of balance. The skies have turned blood red.

The smoke is descending on cities and billowing out to sea. More than 200 fires are burning at the time of this writing, and an area the size of West Virginia—about 23,000 square miles—has already burned. At least 24 people are dead.