Seventy-seven bushfires at last count are consuming large areas of New South Wales and Queensland along the coast. About 100 homes have been destroyed and three people are dead, but the fire toll will go higher. The metropolis of Sydney, not usually threatened by bush fires, has been issued a 'catastrophic' fire danger warning. The fires are larger and earlier in the season than before. The question on people's mind is: what role has global warming played in this disaster? The question cannot be answered with a simple direct cause and effect relationship, but climate conditions that favor fire outbreak have been increasing. The chart shows the increase in extreme fire conditions over time.Widespread drought has affected much of eastern Australia, the continent's most populated area. Above-average temperatures now occur most years and 2019 had the fifth-driest start to the year on record, and the driest since 1970. January-to-August rainfall totaled 50 percent below average, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. In some places, drier-than-average weather dates back to 2017. Australia recorded its hottest month in January 2019. High winds the week are expected to spread fires currently burning out of control. Climate scientists have been warning for years that global climate change will exacerbate natural disasters including the frequency and intensity of wild fires. A warmer climate dries out natural vegetation, making easier to burn.
Australian politicians have been downplaying any connection between the current conflagration [photo: Getty Images] and global warming including the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, who has advocated for the Australian coal industry, one of the world's largest. The deputy prime minister blamed “raving inner-city lunatics” for linking the fires to climate change on national radio. But the the scientific evidence shows clear links between trends in Australian
climate, fire danger over time, and the likelihood of an escalation in
fire risk in years to come.