Australia is burning: record temperatures and months of severe drought have triggered a series of massive bushfires on the continent. The fire has reached apocalyptic dimensions. More than ten million hectares have burned (as of 8 January). This corresponds with the entire land mass of Iceland - or as if all of southern Germany had burned down. The orange circle on the map represents the area that had burned to date. You can move it to any place on earth or use the search mask to enter a location and see how big the burned area is compared to your region.
Australia on fire
A kangaroo runs past a burning house in the small town of Lake Conjola, on the south coast of New South Wales, on New Year's Eve Photo: Matthew Abbott/The New York Times/laif
Green in October - now drowning in smoke
Slide
Satellite images show what it looked like around Lake Conjola before the bushfires - and the dense smoke at the end of December Satellite images: 2019 Planet Labs, Inc
Drops on the burning forest
A fire-fighting helicopter flies over a bushfire near Bairnsdale (Victoria) in the East Gippsland Shire region of Victoria Photo: State Government Of Victoria/dpa
Galloping from the flames
A horse escapes from a bushfire in a residential area near the city of Nowra (New South Wales) Photo: Saeed Khan/AFP
Embers inside a tree
A tree burns from within - hours after the fire front passed over the Bundanoon area in the southern highlands of New South Wales on January 5 Photo: Brett Hemmings/Getty Images
Burnt out
Nothing remained of this car on Quinlans Street in Quaama (New South Wales) after a nightly bushfire on January 6 Photo: Saeed Khan/AFP
Rescued
A wild animal rescuer carries a koala on Kangaroo Island. On Australia's third largest island, 25,000 koalas could have perished, half of the population there, experts estimate Photo: David Mariuz/AAP/dpa
Threatening smoke front
Lake Conjola: Boats are pulled ashore while clouds of smoke rise above the shore on the other side of Lake Canjola Photo: Robert Oerlemans/AP/dpa
Gigantic cloud of smoke
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A view from space shows the extent of the yellowish clouds of smoke that moved from Australia to the coasts of South America in January, in comparison to the time before the great fires Satellite images: NASA Worldview
Sea of Flames
Firefighters fight against the strong wind on New Year's Eve to protect nearby houses near the city of Nowra (New South Wales) Photo: Saeed Khan/AFP
Death on Kangaroo Island
A dead kangaroo is stuck in a fence on Kangaroo Island. According to conservative estimates by scientists, around 800 million animals had been killed in the state of New South Wales alone by the beginning of the year Photo: David Mariuz/AAP/dpa
Further megafires expected
Clouds of smoke near Bairnsdale (Victoria), some 300 kilometres from Melbourne: the battle against the flames is far from over Photo: Glen Morey/dpa