The wildfires that have devastated a large swath of southeastern Australia were caused by arson, and spurred on – at least in part – by global warming, which has caused excessive drought and heat in the region. The wildfires are the worst in the nation’s history and have killed at least 135 people as of Monday morning.
From The Daily Green:
The wildfires have struck a region suffering through the Big Dry, a multi-year period marked by drought and heat waves that has led many Australians to a new and immediate understanding of climate change. Even before the wildfires hit this summer (it’s the height of the Southern Hemisphere summer, but the Northern Hemisphere winter has produced its own signs of global warming in the Arctic) several people had died as temperatures in and around Adelaide topped 114 degrees (F).
The NASA map below shows the land surface temperature anomaly across Australia between Jan. 25 and Feb. 1, 2009. The darkest reds and the darkest blues show a 10-degree (C) differential from normal (white).
It’s a pretty dangerous recipe: dried-out landscapes and trees weakened by insect infestations easily go up in flames with the slightest spark. If it hadn’t been caused by arson this time, it may have happened accidentally at some other point with just a tiny spark from lightning or electrical equipment. This area of Australia is already prone to wildfires – having suffered several major ones in the past century – and global warming will only continue to make it worse.
All nations that contribute significantly to global warming bear a little bit of the blame (though of course, the arsonists are ultimately responsible for what happened in this specific instance). Unfortunately, we are looking at disasters like this happening more frequently as the effects of global warming continue to proliferate around the globe.
Link [The Daily Green]
Photo credit: Andrew Brownbill/EPA
