Australian Forests Begin to Recover After Devastating Wildfires

Australia’s forests are slowly recovering after months of devastating wildfires. The New South Wales Rural Fire Service says the fires there were finally extinguished after more than 240 days.

The fires scorched 50 million acres across the country, killed at least 34 people and damaged at least 6,000 homes and other buildings, the New York Times reported.

The blazes were made at least 30 percent more likely because of human-caused climate change, a new study by the international scientific group World Weather Attribution found.

The fires also affected as many as 1 billion animals, according to Professor Chris Dickman, an expert at the University of Sydney. 

Rescuers raced against time to save species of mammals and birds that are found nowhere else in the world, including the country's beloved koalas. 

Now, even amid the acres of burned forest, small signs of hope emerge as new shoots have sprouted off of scorched trees. But while the recovery begins in many areas, the impact on Australia's biodiversity continues to be devastating. 

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