Here's what Australia's devastating wildfires look like from space

TORONTO -- New satellite images offer a view from space of the Australian wildfires raging in New South Wales and Victoria.

Thick smoke fills the frame of one photo taken east of a tourist town called Orbost by U.S space technology company Maxar.

Another image, captured by the International Space Station orbiting 433 kilometers above the Tasman Sea, shows the wildfires surrounding Sydney.

NASA Earth Observatory also released two images taken six months apart that show the drastic change in Australia’s southeast region along the border of Victoria and New South Wales. One photo taken on July 24, 2019 by the Landsat 8 satellite provides a clear view of vast green land. In the image taken on Jan. 1, 2019 shows the same area covered by thick smoke.

The wildfires have destroyed almost 2,000 homes and claimed 24 lives. Thousands have been forced to flee their homes in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. The wildfires have already burned about 12.35 million acres of land since September.

With files from The Associated Press

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  This satellite image provided by NASA on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020 shows wildfires in Victoria and New South Wales, Australia. (NASA via AP)

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  This Saturday, Jan. 4, 2019 image provided by provided by Maxar Technologies shows wildfires east of Orbost, Australia. (Satellite image 2020 Maxar Technologies via AP)

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  This image taken from the International Space Station on Friday, Jan. 3, 2020 shows wildfires surrounding Sydney Australia as the ISS orbited 269 miles above the Tasman Sea. (NASA via AP)