Introduction

Devastating wildfires have a long history in Australia, and as the country’s environment worsens with them, the danger of flames is only going to grow worse. Australian wildfires continue to devastate the nation’s natural environment, threaten its indigenous species, and endanger the health of its citizens. Our project explores the connection between how the 2019 Australian wildfires affected different regions of the country. We delve into whether the Aboriginal and Torres Strait groups were affected in an inequitable manner by these fires compared to individuals in urban areas. Using the data and imagery drawn from satellites by LANCE FIRMS operated by NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS), we focus specifically on the Northern territory and greater Sydney area. We will analyze health impacts bared by environmental factors. The original source that motivated this data set is “Australia fires: Misleading maps and pictures go viral” by reporter, Georgina Rannard, BBC News which displays maps and pictures of Australia’s unprecedented bushfires that have spread rapidly and widely on social media.

Through our research we argue that Indigenous versus non-Indigenous demographics have a noticeable impact on overall health impacts as one group is more exposed than the other to harmful emissions from these wildfires. For example, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, lower respiratory disease is a leading cause of death in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people within the Northern territory. The number of total deaths are nearly doubled versus in the urban population within New South Wales. We incorporated data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics to examine the health impacts due to the fires. By narrowing our focus on the representation of percentage share of total deaths that chronic lower respiratory diseases had in 2017, 2019, and 2021, we are able to clearly identify that there is a clear unequal divide between populations.. These statistics are relevant for our argument to show that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait groups were affected in an inequitable manner by these fires compared to individuals in urban areas. More information regarding our sources can be found on our sources page.

Literature Review

Our review of the literature revealed that academics concur that wildfires have a major impact on public health. Known as the “Black Summer,” the Australian wildfires of 2019 caused severe respiratory problems, mental health issues, and worsened pre-existing medical disorders, according to the Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management series (Dickman 2021). This was especially detrimental, leading to a rise in hospital admissions for cardiovascular and respiratory ailments. Studies done by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health on air quality and health show that the kind and degree of health effects differed by location (Nguyen 2021). Smoke pollution caused acute respiratory problems and significant air pollution in the Greater Sydney Area. On the other hand, although the Northern Territory was similarly impacted by smoking, it had to deal with other issues like damaged infrastructure and restricted access to healthcare. A study done by the Australian Institute of Health and Wealthfare found how a significant portion of hospital budgets for Aboriginal people is allocated towards treating environmental determinants because of gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases and illnesses (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2021). Not only does this signify a current problem to address as the fires in recent years have been particularly damaging but it also undermines recent legislation and aid that has not been thorough enough to help these impacted groups. 

Multiple studies have consistently shown that exposure to wildfire smoke is linked to respiratory morbidity. In addition to its fatal effects, bushfire smoke has also been related to increased risks of hospitalization and emergency department visits due to respiratory diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and respiratory infections. Increasing evidence also suggests bushfire smoke might increase cardiovascular morbidity, psychological disorders, adverse birth outcomes, and eye irritation (Yu 2020). Because Indigenous people in the bushfire-affected area have younger population profiles, more than one-tenth of children in the bushfire-affected area are Indigenous, raising the diverse effects of bushfires on infants and children in particular. While most of the literature reaches the same conclusion that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait people were more affected in Northern Territory than those in New South Wales, there are some discrepancies. For example, studies on the Northern Territory are less extensive than those on the Greater Sydney Area, which has drawn a lot of attention because of its economic significance and high population density. The impact of the flames on more rural and isolated places may have been underestimated as a result of this disparity (Nguyen 2021). Academics concur that improved emergency response and healthcare infrastructure are essential, particularly in rural and isolated locations. The fires brought to light weaknesses in the current systems that must be fixed in order to better handle emergencies in the future.

Significance

We are investigating the health effects of the 2019 Australian wildfires on various populations (urban residents vs. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities) and regions of Northern Territory and the Greater Sydney Area in order to determine how these gaps manifest and what elements explain them. Not everyone had the same experience in these fires because of geographic location which caused variation in resources between largely populated areas and sparsely populated areas. Since the European invasion of Australia in 1788, the Aboriginal people have been oppressed into a world unnatural to their existence, a way of life that had continued for thousands of years. From a lens of food and water accessibility, displacement and housing, employment, and how the environmental changes to these locations can impact all of the above areas. The purpose of this study is to further understand the disparities in health outcomes and healthcare access after natural catastrophes. We go on to show that despite the presence of Aboriginal people and Aboriginal legal rights across the fire-affected area and the distinctiveness of the Aboriginal experience of bushfire disaster, Aboriginal peoples have been marginalized in recent previous public responses to bushfires. Due to deep ties to their homeland, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are particularly susceptible to the effects of climate change because the wildfires disrupt their connection to Country. This exacerbates existing risk factors and compounds historical injustices as Indigenous communities make up almost 36% of the Northern Australia Territory population. Using data from 2018, one study in the Kimberley region of Western Australia found that a quarter of the budget spend on hospitalisations for Aboriginal people, and over a third of the budget spend for Aboriginal children aged up to 14 years, was due to environmental determinants, revealing the heavy burden that environmental health has on primary health care. 

Our first idea was to compare the quality of life of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as a result of the wildfires versus the urban population. However, by increasing our scope of analyzing not only the quality of life but the specific health impacts due to environmental factors we are able to use specific data to represent the effects of both populations. This study highlights the critical need for people to understand the customized health initiatives and immediate actions that take into account geographical and demographic disparities by bringing attention to them. In summary, we want our project to bring attention to the marginalization of people affected from the 2019 Australian wildfires and promote more equitable and efficient disaster mitigation and development of resilience to be put in place in the future. We propose that collaboration using participatory planning and involving community members in decision making processes will lead to a better understanding of the particular needs and perspectives of local communities, particularly marginalized groups.