are the australian fires getting better or worse?
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The hot, dry conditions that primed southeastern Australia's forest and fields for the bushfires that have been ravaging the country since September are likely to continue, scientists warn — and climate change has likely made the situation much worse. ... But scientists say that the risk of additional fires remains high.
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The Australian state of Victoria has again declared a state of disaster ahead of forecast "dangerous, dynamic" conditions in a massive bushfire zone. ... Blazes have already burnt 1.2 million hectares in Victoria and claimed three lives. Nationally, 27 people have died.
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The forest fires in Australia that have been raging for more than four months, show no signs of ebbing. ... The fires seem to be both a natural disaster and man-made calamity. But if extreme weather is counted as being the result of human activities as well, the fires can be seen as purely a man-made disaster.
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Summer extends from December to February in Australia, with fire season typically peaking in late January or early February. On January 3rd, officials warned that conditions would get worse over the following few days.
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Record-breaking temperatures and months of severe drought have fuelled a series of massive bushfires across Australia. Although recent cooler conditions and rain have brought some respite, more than 50 fires are still burning in the states of New South Wales and Victoria.
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3) The bigger trend: Australia's fire season is getting longer and more dangerous. ... “There has been a long-term increase in extreme fire weather, and in the length of the fire season, across large parts of Australia,” according to the climate report. These fires may not be 100 percent attributable to climate change.
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The loss, and the blazes in the surrounding rain forests, alarmed scientists, who said that such fires were extremely rare in the usually cool and wet area. The fires have burned across the country in recent months, affecting four out of six states. Australia's east coast has been hardest hit.
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A fire that threatened Queanbeyan suburbs and burning in Canberra's east has been downgraded to advice, as firefighters brought it under control. "People can return to the area. No properties are currently under threat," the Emergency Services Agency said about 9pm.
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Fire officials in Australia are celebrating a landmark moment, saying that for the first time in what has been a horrendous wildfire season, every fire in hard-hit New South Wales is now under control. ... "But all fires are contained, so we can really focus on helping people rebuild."
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This fire season has been one of the worst in Australia's history, with at least 15 people killed, hundreds of homes destroyed and millions of acres burned. And summer is far from over. ... The hot, dry conditions that have fueled the fires are nothing new in Australia. Here's why this fire season has been so calamitous.
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Unseasonably high temperatures and drought over the last three months have contributed to the conditions that have allowed the fires to proliferate. ... And in Australia we've just experienced record high temperatures," Mark Howden, director of the Climate Change Institute at Australian National University, told Reuters.
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American firefighters deployed to fight Australia fires met with cheers in Sydney. More than 100 American firefighters are now helping battle the bushfires in Australia. ... Nearly 28 million acres have burned across Australia, covering an area almost the size of Louisiana.
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There are currently 11 uncontrolled blazes burning across the state, including a blaze in the Barossa region, which is moving in a northerly direction and is threatening the town of Truro. Meanwhile, the fire in Victoria's Grampians, where one woman died yesterday, has now burnt around 52,000 hectares.
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Bushfires have killed at least eight people in south-eastern Australia since Monday, while two others remain unaccounted for. The latest fires, which raced towards the coast this week, have also destroyed more than 200 homes. Seven people have been confirmed dead in New South Wales and one in Victoria.
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(CNN) The Australian state of New South Wales is officially free from bushfires for the first time in more than 240 days, according to the area's fire service. ... Now, all bushfires in the state have been extinguished.
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About 27.2 million acres of bush, forest, and parks across Australia have burned. New South Wales and Victoria have been the worst hit states. In New South Wales, fire has affected about 12 and a half million acres. In Victoria, almost 3 million acres have been burned.
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Send this by. Only about 1 per cent of the land burnt in NSW this bushfire season can be officially attributed to arson, and it is even less in Victoria, the ABC can reveal. The world has been shocked by the scenes of devastation as the unprecedented destruction of Australia's horror bushfire season rages on.