Wildfires in Australia have long been part of the continent's wildlands. Now these wildfires are increasingly moving into more developed areas, as the country is having its worst fire season in 30+ years. To top that off the climate denying government of Prime Minister Tony Abbott has just announced that last year's Spring was the hottest in Australia's history. Now the summertime has arrived down under.
Australia Is Burning, and Climate Change Is Making It Worse
By Bruce Einhorn
Every year, the continent’s sweltering temperatures and dry conditions create a toxic combination for bush fires that can threaten homes and lead to injuries and deaths. This season’s wildfires are particularly damaging, destroying the largest amount of territory in more than three decades. The Insurance Council of Australia yesterday declared a catastrophe for regions near Adelaide in South Australia.
Fires may be inevitable in Australian summers, but climate change is making the problem more severe, says Will Steffen, an adjunct professor at the Australian National University’s Fenner School of Environment & Society. “Pretty much all parts of the continent do burn,” says Steffen, who is also a councillor with the Climate Council, an NGO in Sydney. As temperatures rise, however, the patterns are changing, with the southeastern part of the country more vulnerable than before. “We are seeing an increase in the most populated areas of Australia. That’s really of concern, the fires that can encroach on the edge of cities.”
Prime Minister Tony Abbott is a vocal critic of policies designed to combat climate change. And with the wildfires raging, his government probably could have found a better time to release new data showing just how quickly temperatures are rising in the country. This past spring—from September to November—was the hottest on record, the Bureau of Meteorology said in a report published Monday.
Australians have rough times ahead with a Prime Minister who's primary focus is getting more coal out of the ground more quickly, and loading it on more ships bound for export, not trying to slow the trend toward more and increasingly destructive fires as Global Warming intensifies.
Of course we already see developed areas of the U.S. swept by walls of flames with increasing regularity.