豪森林火災 全人口の７５％、１８００万人に被害

【シドニーＡＦＰ＝時事】オーストラリアで5か月にわたって猛威を振るってきた森林火災について、調査を行ったオーストラリア国立大学は18日、全人口の4分の3、数にして約1800万人が何らかの影響を受けたとの結論を発表した。（写真は資料写真）
　３０人超が死亡、家屋数千戸が破壊された森林火災による大規模な被害状況が、調査により明らかになった。調査を主導したニコラス・ビドル氏は、「ほぼ全オーストラリア人が今回の火災の影響を受け、私たちの多くが今後長期にわたってその影響と共に生活していくことになるだろう」と述べた。
　３０００人を対象とした調査では、成人人口の１４％が住宅の喪失や損壊、家族での避難を余儀なくされたといった直接的な被害を受けたことが分かった。
　さらに直接被害を受けた３００万人に加え、１５００万人が森林火災の煙の影響を受けたり、休暇の計画に支障が生じたりするなどの間接的な被害を受けた。
　科学者らは、干ばつと気候変動で悪化した気象条件によって、森林火災が拡大したと指摘している。
　スコット・モリソン豪首相は、森林火災危機の真っ最中にハワイへ休暇に出掛けたことや、二酸化炭素（ＣＯ２）排出量の削減枠拡大を拒否するなどしたことから批判を浴びている。前回の総選挙で現政権を支持した有権者のうち炭鉱新設に賛成する人は、森林火災前の７２％から１月には５７％と大幅に減少した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/02/19-12:07）

Three in four Australians -- almost 18 million people -- were affected by the country's deadly bushfire crisis, according to a survey released Tuesday that also pointed to plummeting support for the government and for coal projects.
The Australian National University study showed the vast human scale of the five-month crisis, which killed more than 30 people and destroyed thousands of homes.
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, said lead social researcher Nicholas Biddle said.
The poll of 3,000 people indicated that 14 percent of the adult population was directly affected -- with their homes lost or damaged, or families forced to evacuate.
Those nearly three million people were eclipsed by a further 15 million Australians who had indirect exposure, including being affected by bushfire smoke or having holiday plans hit.
The scale of the impact shocked researchers and will be cause for concern in Canberra, where the government has struggled to shake public perception that it botched the crisis response and cares little for addressing climate change.
Scientists say the fires were fuelled by drought and unfavourable weather conditions that were exacerbated by climate change.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison was criticised for going on holiday to Hawaii in the middle of the disaster and refusing to rule out deeper cuts to carbon emissions.
Only 27 per cent of respondents reported that they were confident or very confident in the government, said Biddle, a drop of 11 percentage points in three months.
This is one of the largest declines in confidence I have seen in such a short period of time, he said.
Among people who voted for the government at the last election, support for building new coal mines plummeted from 72 percent before the crisis to 57 percent in January.