WHAT'S NEXT? Terrifying comparison highlights brutal year for Australia

A side-by-side comparison of December 2019 and December 2020 has highlighted just how difficult the past 12 months have been in Australia, as each year brought on a very different emergency.

The images uploaded to Reddit show two scenes from Google Maps of Greater Sydney.

The pictures show how NSW was choked by bushfires in 2019, while one year later it’s instead swarming with coronavirus alerts.

The side-by-side comparison shows NSW swarmed with bushfires in 2019, and inundated with coronavirus cases in 2020.
The images show a different emergency in the different years. Source: Reddit/la838

The 2019 - 2020 bushfires season, known as the Black Summer, killed 34 people as it destroyed over 46 million acres of land.

The recent Covid outbreak in Sydney’s northern beaches has so far resulted in 83 confirmed cases, while more than 100 businesses have been flagged after they were visited by an infected person.

The markers on the map represent areas where visitors have been advised to get tested for the virus.

The display of the two major emergencies left viewers wondering what could possibly be in store for Australians next year.

“Not looking forward to Dec 2021…,” one person wrote.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 18: People are seen lining up at a COVID-19 testing site at Mona Vale Hospital on December 18, 2020 in Sydney, Australia.A cluster of Covid-19 cases on the northern beaches of Sydney has grown to 28, prompting NSW health officials to urge residents of affected suburbs to stay home. Traffic at Sydney Airport has increased as people rush to leave the city with several states imposing quarantine restrictions for New South Wales residents. (Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images)
Dozens of people line up in wet weather to be tested for Covid at Mona Vale Hospital. Source: Getty

“Hahaha, like there’s going to be a Dec 2021. I’m sure an asteroid or cataclysmic volcanic events are on the table,” another replied.

One Reddit user joked spaceships were coming next, while others speculated it would be flooding.

One viewer summed the situation up quite nicely: “God what an absolute sh*t 12 months,” they said.

“That map makes me understand why greater Sydney got banned,” another person added, referring to the recent border closures between other states.

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