Australia Fires Caused By Global Warming

Record warmth and dryness last year led to a severe wildfire outbreak in Australia with an estimated 50 million acres burned including more than 16.

Australia fires caused by global warming. Since the mid-1990s southeast Australia has experienced a 15 decline in late autumn and early winter rainfall and a 25 decline in average rainfall in April and May. Anthropogenic warming has worsened Australias fire risk by extending fire seasons increasing average temperature and drying the landscape. Human-caused climate change made southeastern Australias devastating wildfires during 20192020 at least 30 percent more likely to occur researchers report in.

Global warming boosted the risk of the hot dry weather thats likely to cause bushfires by at least 30 they say. Australian wildfires were caused by humans not climate change. There is no doubt climate change must be tackled as an urgent priority but it is equally.

The burning of coal oil and gas is driving up global temperatures leading to hotter Australian conditions. In fact the research identifying a link between fires and climate change is old hat says Professor. And yet addressing this reality by reducing emissions will offer little practical help to Australians who must gird themselves against the threat of more fires at least not for the foreseeable future.

Heat and dry conditions says Stefan Rahmstorf department head at the Potsdam. Global warming played a big role in generating long-lasting heat waves that fueled Australias deadly 2019-2020 wildfire season a new study by an. Thats particularly a problem in drought-prone regions like Australia and California.

Despite the political smokescreen scientists are in no doubt that global heating has contributed to Australias fire emergency Smoke from Australias unprecedented bushfires as. At its height from 1963 to around 1985 very little was burned by wildfires but as more and more pressure mounted to suppress this practice more and more of Western Australia was burned over as shown dramatically in this. Australia is becoming hotter and more prone to extreme heat bushfires droughts floods and longer fire seasons because of climate change.

As climate scientist Kevin Trenberth explained in a recent interview with videographer Peter Sinclair global warming directly intensifies wildfires by drying out soil and vegetation creating more fuel to burn farther and faster. Yes there is a link between climate change and the prevalence and severity of fires. Wildfires are a feature of life in Australia which is not surprising when you consider that it is the driest inhabited continent in the world.