![\"ESA\/Luca](\"http:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Up_in_smoke_card_full.jpg\")
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Another pair of eyes provides a sobering perspective on the fires ravaging Australia. ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano took images such as this one on 12 January from his vantage point of the International Space Station. <\/p>\n
From satellite imagery tracing smoke and pollution<\/a>, to images from the ground depicting apocalyptic red skies, there is no denying the fires\u2019 devastating effect. <\/p>\n Starting in New South Wales and extending into Victoria, the ferocious bushfires have been raging since September and are fuelled by record-breaking temperatures. In the midst of a climate crisis, 2019 was the hottest year on record in Australia and with drought and wind, the fires have raged beyond seasonal expectations. <\/p>\n Winds have blown smoke over New Zealand and crossed the South Pacific Ocean, even reaching Chile and Argentina.<\/p>\n A staggering 10 million hectares of land have been burned, at least 24 people have been killed and it has been reported that almost half a billion animals have perished.<\/p>\n Damage to wildlife notwithstanding, the fires have had a serious effect on air quality. Earth observation satellites like Copernicus Sentinel-5 Precursor has traced increased concentrations of carbon monoxide<\/a> in the past months along Australia\u2019s southeast coast. <\/p>\n This image was taken as the Station flew above Fraser Range, in Western Australia, near the Dundas Nature Reserve. <\/p>\n