As the climate has warmed, the cool mountain habitat of species in the Kosciuszko National Park is shrinking; bushfires have decimated a lot of what was left. Feral horses now threaten to destroy the remainder, and according to Professor Jamie Pittock, an urgent culling program is needed.

Australia has a long history of bushfires. But several factors make eastern Australia’s recent crisis different to infamous bushfires in the past.

For two weeks over the holiday period, Canberra has had some of the world's worst recorded air quality due to bushfire smoke. Former meteorologist and honorary lecturer Dr Clem Davis told the ABC that hot air acts like a lid and traps everything below the inversion, and the pollution is stuck.