Australia is seeing its worst wildfires in decades, with large areas of the country affected since the fire season began in September. Every Australian state is experiencing fires, but New South Wales has been the area hardest hit. The summer season is the period in which Australia is most susceptible to wildfires, and with the season just beginning, already the casualties are immense - 17 people have died and nearly 1,000 houses have been destroyed.
Each year the Australian summer, with hot, dry weather, makes it relatively easy for fires to start. Nonetheless, conditions have been unusually severe this year, characterized by record-breaking temperatures, extended drought, and strong winds. Experts say climate change has exacerbated the scope and impact of natural disasters, making weather conditions more extreme, spurring the spread of wildfires in places like Australia, California, and Brazil, and recently intense flooding in Indonesia. As natural disasters intensify and experts attribute the pattern largely to climate change, an increasingly large number of people turn to policymakers to enact change. In Australia, the focus has been turned on the Australian government’s failure to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, which traps heat when released into the atmosphere.
