From my friend @pauldegelder // Half a billion animals dead! My mum is in the thick of it, several mates have lost everything and apparently climate change is still not real. 🤦🏼♂️ Repost from @diana.chan.au Because i have no words right now. More than 50% of my followers are based outside of Australia. If you aren’t aware about what’s happening, Australia is currently undergoing the worst bushfires ever recorded in history. Since bushfire season began in August 2019 in Australia, nearly 6 million hectares of land has been destroyed. Blazes sparked by hot, dry weather and assisted by strong winds have torn through nearly every state in the country. The death toll is at 19 people and dozens are still missing. It is estimated 500 million animals have died in the fires. This includes many species native to Australia such as koalas and kangaroos, and there are fears entire species have been wiped out. Collectively, an estimated area of 5.9 million hectares - which takes in bushland, national parks, as well as towns and cities - has been ravaged by the fires. This figure includes the fires currently burning, plus the regions already burned. If the total area of land destroyed is added together, the size of the affected area is larger than the whole of Belgium. When compared to London, the total area hit by the bushfires covers from Birmingham in the north-west all the way to Hastings on the south-east coast. Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from cities and towns in New South Wales and Victoria ahead of worsening conditions this weekend. When disasters hit around the world, Australians are one the first countries to send help. Thank you to US and Canada for sending your firefighters to help in the crisis. Understand we are not all able to physically help but if you are in a position to do so financially, please donate to those in need. Go to @redcrossau donation page. There are also many other donation pages if you wish to donate to. Just click on the tags and head to their bio. Thank you for helping us ❤️ 🏡🐨🦘#australiaonfire #australiaburning #prayforaustralia #climateemergency #bushfi (at Australia) https://www.instagram.com/p/B6-A0aLpoJG/?igshid=176g1kh3czqj4