It's no secret that Australia is in the midst of a fire season the likes of which the world has never seen before, with more than 10 million hectares (25 million acres) having burned — that's an area about the same size as Ohio.
At least 30 people have died, thousands of homes and buildings consumed, and at least a billion animals have been lost to the fires.
In New South Wales and Victoria, more than 60 fires are still active, and the hot, windy weather that fuels them is expected to return. New South Wales has already been the hardest hit state, losing more than five million hectares and at least 2,000 houses to date, the BBC reported.
It's a fire season that has left experts not only astounded, but unsure of what's to come.
According to ecologists, before this fire season, Australia's forests could be divided along two lines: those that would burn and regrow, and those too wet to burn, like rainforests and peat bogs. This time around, droughts dried out even the rainforests and the swamps enough to burn.
"Anybody would have said these forests don't burn, that there's not enough material and they are wet. Well, they did," Australian forest restoration expert Sebastian Pfautsh told Fox News.
"Climate change is happening now, and we are seeing the effects of it," Pfautsch said.
Climate change is expected to make the recovery longer and tougher, if it's even possible at all. "The normal processes of recovery are going to be less effective, going to take longer," said Griffith University ecologist Roger Kitching. "Instead of an ecosystem taking a decade, it may take a century or more to recover, all assuming we don't get another fire season of this magnitude soon."
In 2009, the Black Saturday fires devastated Victoria and claimed 180 lives, making it the deadliest bushfire in Australian history. LaTrobe University's Mike Clarke said that while some areas are showing signs of recovery, others are lagging.
"Some ancient Mountain Ash forests that were killed on the day [are] now dense thickets of young saplings – 10 years along a 3-500 year journey...For Alpine Ash forests, adult trees are also killed by fire and regeneration is reliant on seed being shed after the fire passes. But too frequent fires in these forests have prevented saplings having sufficient time between fires to set seed, so large areas of this forest type (and all the animals that depend on it) have been wiped out."
They were supposed to have too little foliage, but the saplings that had re-seeded the Australian Alps from previous fires have been reduced to cinders, setting back the recovery even more. Experts aren't sure if some areas will ever fully recover, which has a subsequent knock-on effect for the wildlife, an especially awful scenario for the many sensitive and unique species found in Australia.
"If a young ash forest is burned and killed and we can't re-sow it, then it is lost," said Owen Bassett of Forest Solutions.
The challenges are huge, but nature is already trying to poke back through the soot-blackened ground.
Check out the difference 10 weeks made on actor Russell Crowe's property, where a little rainfall helped the landscape transform from bleak to lush.
Land that fire blazed through in December has started green up in January, ever so slightly. While the recovery may take quite some time, the sight of new plants rising up from the ash is at least raising spirits.
"There are some green sprouts coming from the black trees. The grass has also started to come back a bit. You look at that and see hope in the green, and think it can all become green again," Wallabi resident Melissa Clarke told The Australian.
"We are seeing good signs of recovery throughout the region due to some rain, which has also aided firefighting efforts," said Aaron Simmon of the National Parks and Wildlife Service. "We are all hopeful our wonderful waterfalls and rivers will run again soon for all to enjoy."
If videos like this one showing grass trees sprouting in the wake of the bushfires are any indication, it looks like there's some good reason to stay optimistic.
If you'd like to donate to help Australia's relief efforts, there are many good, credible agencies, including the NSW RSPCA and the NSW Rural Fire Service. Donate to the RSPCA right here or to the NSW RFS right here.
h/t: BBC, Fox News, The Australian
