published: DEC 31 2020
Bushfires burnt over 18 million ha and weeks of choking smoke sent over 4,000 people to hospital. The "black summer", one of the country's worst fire seasons ever, began in mid-2019 and died out only in March this year.
It’s believed at least a billion animals died in the fires, with over 60,000 koalas killed, injured, or displaced.
It's hard to believe, but this is 11am in San Francisco back in September, where smoke from massive wildfires in California and Oregon turned the skies orange for weeks.
The number of fire spots in Brazil's forests were a record high this year. Scientists are concerned as 60 per cent of the Amazon is in Brazil, and the world's biggest rainforest is vital to keeping global warming in check.
Some 22 storms in the Phillipines this year killed 166 people displaced nearly 8 million more. Of the storms, Typhoon Vamco in November was most devastating, killing over 100 people. The resulting floods and power cuts brought Manila to a standstill.
Typhoon Molave was among the most powerful of storms to hit Vietnam, and it struck in October as the country was already dealing with weeks of flooding and landslides. Popular heritage sites like Hue and Hoi An were among the areas damaged by the storms.
The summer monsoon season triggered historic rainfall in June, bursting several dams across the country's largest fresh water lake. Millions were evacuated. By September, reports said China had experienced over 20 floods, the most since 1996.
Hundreds of people died across South Asia in severe monsoon floods, particularly Nepal, Assam in India, and Bangladesh. Million of people were affected and large areas of crops damaged or destroyed.
PRODUCED BY: JO-ANN QUAH