Scientists Blame Climate Change For Australia's Worst Bushfires Since 1983
Australian firefighters continue to scramble and contain the worst bushfires in the country in 30 years. The recent fires have already burned more than 12,000 hectares of land outside Adelaide and destroyed nearly 30 homes.
Reuters reported that the fires have been burning across a 240-km perimeter in South Australia. According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, 2014 had been the third warmest year in the country on record. The bushfires have sparked a debate on whether they were caused by climate change.
David Karoly, a University of Melbourne professor of Atmospheric Science, said in a statement that unless there is sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in Australia and around the world, the country will continue to experience more intense heat waves and bushfires like in 2014.
No deaths have been reported due to the bushfires but at least 29 people were either injured or taken to the hospital. Authorities said the recent fires were worst compared to the Ash Wednesday fires in 1983 that killed 75 people in terms of scale and intensity. Country Fire Service state coordinator Brenton Eden said that the next couple of days will be critical in containing the fire. The weather bureau has forecasted changing winds and high temperatures.
Hundreds of families have left their homes as firefighters rescue several koalas from their habitats while the fire rages through the Adelaide Hills. Bloomberg reported that the Insurance Council of Australia has recently declared a "catastrophe" for regions near Adelaide. Although fires are bound to happen in the summers in Australia, scientists said climate change has made the fires more severe.
Will Steffen from the Australian National University's Fenner School of Environment & Society said that "all parts of the continent do burn." As temperatures continue to rise, weather patterns also changed. The southeastern part of Australia has become more vulnerable to fire danger.
Aside from bushfires, the heat has caused an Internet outage in Perth in West Australia as thousands of iiNet Ltd customers reported no connection for hours. Reports said Perth has reached a temperature of 44.4 degrees Celsius, its hottest temperature in January since 1991.
