The new decade kicked off with images of Australia in flames.

As the country's bushland has burned over the past few months, more than an estimated 10 million hectares have already been reduced to ash. At least 28 people and more than a billion animals are believed to have been killed by the fires as of mid-January.

Support has been pouring in from the international community, including Japan, which dispatched two Air Self-Defense Force planes and personnel to Australia earlier this month.