Sustainability Concerns in Australia | Study

Running head: SUSTAINIBILITY CONCERNS IN AUSTRALIA
SUSTAINABILITY CONCERNS IN AUSTRALIA
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1SUSTAINIBILITY CONCERNS IN AUSTRALIA
The wide variety of flora and fauna in Australia is unmatchable. However, there are a
few increasing Sustainability Concerns in Australia that I have noticed, which are posing a
severe threat. Examples of the concerns include deforestation, land clearing for
infrastructure, overgrazing, excessive usage of natural resources, extensive fishing, species
extinction, and pollution (Greenpeace Australia Pacific 2020). These factors are gradually
contributing to the rising concerns regarding the Australian ecosystem. The recent bush fire
has also negatively affected the environmental balance as well as the ecosystem. A torrential
downpour followed this bush fire and helped in stopping the fire, but the extremity of it also
made an impact on the environment.
I am choosing extreme climate events. It is because Australia just witnessed the
most significant bush fire of all times, which wiped off 1.1 billion animals. Along with the
animals, about 6.7 million hectares of land have been burnt. It is estimated that there are quite
a few animal species that were noted as endangered species have gone extinct, and few
species have entered the list of endangered species of Australia (ABC News 2020). It has not
only affected the animals but also, in a way, affected every individual residing in Australia.
The poisonous fumes emitted from the continuous fir have led to an accumulation of a layer
of carbon dioxide that weighed over 306 million tonnes and spread about 11,000 kilometers
over the Australian landmass, thus polluting the environment beyond imagination (Yu et al.
2020). This has led to an increase in the temperature of the overall landmass by 1° Celsius. It
has also affected the archaeological assets like the 500 years old rock arts and cave arts.
These changes led the scientists to conclude that it might take a decade to recover from the
massacre that has been created by the fire.
Some sustainability concerns need to be considered under environmental, economic,
and social dimensions. The bushfire in Australia has affected the environment of Australia
in several ways like the lands have lost the firmness because of the absence of the forest. It is

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estimated that the region affected by this fire might have lost the ability to grow further
plantations. The fire has also affected the animal population by creating a massacre in their
habitat. The pollution that it has produced is immense and ended up raising the temperature.
The economic loss is significant. The fire has burnt millions of trees with medicinal purposes
and building up various things. Tourism, which is a valuable source of economic growth, has
also suffered a massive blow as tourists have been avoiding a visit because of the massacre.
Both these factors, in turn, have affected the social life of all the residents. The pollution and
warmth, lack of agriculture, and the weak economy are the factors affecting social life
(Climate Action Network, 2020).
The environmental dimension should be looked upon at first which can be done
by installing air filtration machinery in every possible location to purify the polluted air; by
planting more trees to bring back the equilibrium as the trees can also absorb the polluted air
and purify the air and can make the land firm as well and by doing soil culture like increasing
the organic content of the soil and increasing the microbial population in the soil to improve
the fertility and the ability to regrow trees. The environmental dimension should be
focussed on because if the environmental concerns are reduced, the other two factors, i.e.,
economy and social life, will fall into its right places. As proper regrowth of trees would
improve food and other necessary productions. Reduction in pollution would help social life
get back into place. The wild animal population would regain their natural habitat. This
would lead the tourists to start revisiting Australia; thus, developing the economy and social
life as well (UN Environment, 2020).

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REFERENCES
ABC News. (2020). We fact checked claims bushfires have killed more than a billion
animals. Here's what we found. Retrieved 10 March 2020, from
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-31/fact-check-have-bushfires-killed-more-than-a-
billion-animals/11912538
Greenpeace Australia Pacific. (2020). Environmental issues in Australia and the Pacific |
Greenpeace Australia Pacific. Retrieved 10 March 2020, from
https://www.greenpeace.org.au/what-we-do/
Climate Action Network. (2020). Social Impacts – Climate Action Network. Retrieved 13
March 2020, from https://climateactionnetwork.ca/issues/impacts-and-adaptation/learning-
cente/global-impacts/social-impacts/
UN Environment. (2020). Ten impacts of the Australian bushfires. Retrieved 13 March
2020, from https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/ten-impacts-australian-
bushfires
Yu, P., Xu, R., Abramson, M.J., Li, S. and Guo, Y., 2020. Bushfires in Australia: a serious
health emergency under climate change. The Lancet Planetary Health.