Coal Mines Find Fewer Friends in Australia After Wildfire Crisis

Australians’ growing concern about the impact of climate change after a summer blighted by a wildfire crisis has been revealed in a survey that shows a plunge in support for new coal mines.

Asked “Should the Government allow the opening of new coal mines?”, 37% of respondents answered yes, down from 45% in June, according to an Australian National University survey of more than 3,000 people released on Tuesday.

The survey revealed that the weeks-long fire crisis had impacted almost four out of five people, with the fallout ranging from homes being destroyed to being physically affected by smoke haze to being anxious about safety.

“Nearly every Australian has been touched by these fires and many of us will be living with the effects for years and years to come,” the survey’s lead researcher Nicholas Biddle said in the statement.

While recent rains have finally extinguished most of the blazes that plagued the nation, Australia is still counting the economic and environmental cost of the unprecedented wildfire season. The blazes burnt out an area about the size of England, destroyed more than 3,000 homes, killed an estimated 1 billion animals and wreathed majors cities including Sydney and Melbourne in toxic smoke, often for days on end.