Far North Queensland highway bridge collapse. Screenshot from 9 News Australia video: “Prime Minister heads to flood emergency zones”. February 6, 2025.
Australia is facing increased destruction from natural disasters and seeing a growing number of endemic species threatened due to the worsening climate crisis. The Australian summer, running from January to February, has been particularly difficult this year as the climate crisis has hit Aussies on many fronts, with heatwaves, bushfires, storms, and floods disrupting life across the continent.
The impact of bushfires
Bushfires broke out through Southeastern Australia in late December 2024 and weren’t contained until mid-January this year. The fires endangered numerous species of rare plants and animals. Amid the disaster, scientists rushed to the fire-ravaged Grampians National Park on a mission to help conserve the Grampians globe-pea, a very rare and endangered species of plant. The Guardian reported:
The Grampians globe-pea, a critically endangered wiry shrub, had finished flowering and was fruiting when fires tore through its home in the Grampians national park, in western Victoria. The spiny plant with vibrant orange and yellow flowers is extremely rare and restricted to a handful of sites.
However, the mission faced delays as a second outbreak merged with the original fire a fortnight later.
The bushfires broke out again in western Victoria, with major outbreaks in the Little Desert National Park and new fires in the Grampians National Park. The Little Desert Nature Lodge facilities were destroyed, with concerns for local threatened species such as the Malleefowl.
Bluesky user Lyndall Terrier expressed her concern:
Bluesky screenshot — user Lyndall Terrier expressed her concern about Malleefowl
Another continuing casualty of increasing temperatures is the Great Barrier Reef. Coral bleaching reached alarming levels in 2024 in the southern reef, an area previously spared mass bleaching. According to researcher Shawna Foo:
Seeing the impacts on a reef that has largely avoided mass bleaching until now is devastating. The high rates of mortality and disease, particularly in such a remote and pristine area, highlight the severity of the situation.
A bleached coral in the Great Barrier Reef. Image from YouTube.
Extreme weather events
In addition, severe floods broke out during Northern Australia’s wet season from November to April, especially in Far North Queensland. This news report in early February captured the extent of the disaster:
However, the monsoons did not come to Darwin, Australia’s northernmost capital, until very late in the season. The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) reported:
The monsoon arrived in Darwin on 7 February 2025. It’s the latest known arrival since records began. The previous record was 25 January 1973.
Before the onset of the much-anticipated monsoon, northern Australia endures the build-up – a time of extreme heat and humidity.
The monsoon is associated with increased rainfall and some relief to the oppressive heat.
In Northwestern Australia, Category 5 Cyclone Zelia brought heavy rain and floods, making landfall in mid-February:
In December, intense heatwaves covered most of the continent. The Early Warning Network (EWN) summed up temperature trends last year:
2024 was Australia’s second-warmest year on record, with temperatures 1.46°C [2.65 °F] above the long-term average, bringing with it several significant heatwaves. December’s heat events, including a peak of 47.2°C [117 °F]in Birdsville, were a reminder of the challenges posed by rising temperatures.
These natural disasters underscore the urgency of the current climate crisis and back up the warnings contained in several recent international climate reports.
State of the climate
The State of the Climate 2024 report highlighted the challenges the continent is facing:
The warming has led to an increase in the frequency of extreme heat events… 2023 was one of Australia’s largest bushfire seasons in terms of area burned.
In contrast, northern Australia has been wetter than average over the last 30 years.
According to the Australian Conservation Foundation’s Extinction Wrapped 2024 report:
In 2024, 56 Australian species and ecological communities were newly recognised nationally as
being threatened with extinction or moving closer towards extinction.Climate change is a major threat to our threatened species and ecosystems. In 2024, new information identified Australian and New Zealand species as being among the most at risk of extinction globally due to climate change.
The impact on humans is taking many forms. Many people are being forced to move homes. On Bluesky, Patti Mac was just one of the concerned:
Bluesky screenshot. User Patti Mac shared concern about flood impacts on housing
The study referenced on Bluesky indicated that the disasters are disproportionately impacting poorer Australians:
Every year, an average of around 22,000 Australians move home after climate disasters, according to demographers.
The figure mostly impacts poorer Australians but the study doesn’t capture the extent of residents becoming trapped in risky towns they can’t leave.
In addition, insurance is becoming beyond the reach of many in high-risk areas. All property insurance costs are rising steeply nationwide. Overseas events like the recent California fires are also adding to the costs worldwide:
In Australia — frequently ravaged by wildfires and flooding — 15 percent of households are experiencing ‘home insurance affordability stress,’ which means they’re plowing more than four weeks of their annual income into premiums.
Independent think tank, the Australia Institute, reports that:
Around the world, climate change is increasing the costs of insurance and Australia is no exception.
Between 2022 and 2023, the average home insurance premium in Australia rose by 14 percent, the biggest rise in a decade.
The potential disasters continued into the last week of summer, with Victoria facing wild weather and bushfires. Other states also faced heatwaves and a couple of potential cyclones brewing up north.
One of the cyclones has travelled south from north Queensland:
A weather event not seen in 33 years has put in the AFL on notice with fears the opening game of the season might have to be cancelled.
Experts are predicting Tropical Cyclone Alfred will make landfall near Brisbane on Thursday and Queensland isn’t the only state now in the firing line.
…The NSW SES, in an alert issued on Sunday afternoon, warns the cyclone could produce flash flooding and river floods, damaging winds and heavy rainfall across much of northern NSW.
Meanwhile, southern Australia is witnessing one of its worst recorded droughts, with a bushfire season extended to late autumn.
