Directions: Read the summary, watch the video and answer the questions. You can read along with the transcript here. To learn “How to help the victims of Australia’s wildfires,” click here.

If short on time, read the summary, answer the questions and take a look at these photographs.

Summary: Vast swaths of Australia are burning with thousands of people under evacuation orders since the fires began in November. A record summer fire season has charred 15 million acres, destroyed 2,000 homes and killed at least 25 people. The states of New South Wales and Victoria are hardest hit, but fires are also burning across the rest of the country in an area twice the size of the U.S. state of Maryland.

A three-year drought preceded the crisis raising concerns about the effects of climate change. In addition, police have arrested and charged 24 people since early November who they say purposely started fires.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the government was committing an extra 2 billion Australian dollars ($1.4 billion) toward the recovery effort in addition to the tens of millions of dollars that have already been promised. Morrison has been criticized for not acting swiftly enough to fend off the crisis. Australians in the coastal town of Cobargo blamed Morrison for ignoring them because they are lower-income and therefore have few resources, including firetrucks.

January 7, 2020 video and resource materials from PBS NewsHour.

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