Australia: burning hundreds of thousands of hectares of forest

Smoke of forest fires covering Australia's second largest city of Melbourne on December 9 made the city postpone flights and fire sirens at the port.

The fires, mostly caused by lightning, burned down 180,000 hectares of forest, mostly in the mountains of northeastern Victoria. Fire extending 150km from King Valley to the coast can burn another 600,000ha in the coming days due to the combination of strong winds.

More than 2,000 firefighters have been mobilized to 'cool down' 24 fires beyond control in southern Victoria; airplanes that dropped water bombs even had to land due to dense smoke.

Firefighters say Australia is facing a huge risk of fire this summer because droughts are raging in many rural areas. Meanwhile, scientists are concerned that climate change will increase temperatures and less rain in Australia, leading to more forest fires.

Haze due to forest fire (Photo: The Age)

Q.HONG