Australia's deadly wildfires are showing no signs of stopping.

Australia  f ires are showing no signs of stopping. Here's what you need to know

Australia's deadly wildfires are showing no signs of stopping. Here's what you would like to understand 


A total of 18 people have died nationwide, and within the state of latest South Wales alone, quite 900 houses aredestroyed. State and federal authorities are struggling to contain the huge blazes, even with firefighting assistance from other countries, including the us .
All this has been exacerbated by persistent heat and drought, and lots of point to global climate change as an elementmaking natural disasters go from bad to worse.


Where are the fires 

There are fires in every Australian state , but New South Wales has been hardest hit.
Blazes have torn through bushland, wooded areas, and national parks just like the Blue Mountains. a number of Australia's largest cities have also been affected, including Melbourne and Sydney -- where fires have damaged homes within the outer suburbs and thick plumes of smoke have blanketed the city . Earlier in December


What is causing the fires 

Each year there's a fireplace season during the Australian summer, with hot, dry weather making it easy for blazes to start out and spread.
Natural causes are responsible most of the time, like lightning strikes in drought-affected forests. Dry lightning was liable for starting variety of fires in Victoria's East Gippsland region in late December, which then traveled quite 20 kilometers 


Why are the fires so bad 

Fire season in Australia is usually dangerous -- the 2009 Black Saturday fires killed 173 people in Victoria, making it the deadliest bushfire disaster on record. But conditions are unusually severe this year, fanning the flames and making firefighting conditions particularly difficult.


What has been the damage so far 

Entire towns are engulfed in flames, and residents across several states have lost their homes. The heaviest structural damage occurred in NSW, the country's most populated state, where on the brink of 1,300 homes are destroyed and over 440 damaged.
In total, quite 5.9 million hectares (14.7 million acres) are burned across Australia's six states -- a neighborhood larger than the countries of Belgium and Haiti combined. The worst-affected state is NSW, with 3.6 million hectares 


What is being done 

State and federal authorities are working to combat the hearth crisis for months.
NSW declared a state of emergency in December, which grants "extraordinary powers" to the NSWRFS commissioner, including the authority to allocate government resources and direct government agencies in taking action. The state of Queensland also briefly declared a state of emergency in November.


When will the fires end 

Unfortunately, Australia is merely just entering its summer season. Normally, temperatures peak in January and February, meaning the country might be months faraway from finding relief.
The fires are unlikely to finish entirely since they're an annually occurring event -- and should even worsen if recent years are a guide.