Australians are being warned to brace for more catastrophic bushfire seasons in years to come

More frequent devastating bushfire seasons, like the one that tore through Australia last summer, will become a stark part of our reality, experts warn.

Australians are being urged to brace for more catastrophic fire seasons to come because of the country’s rapidly changing climate.

Scientists have also warned climate change has already heated the planet by one degree, bringing with it the risk of more intense bushfire seasons.

The findings are part of a new expert review of scientific literature by a group of five scientists from the Australian National University and Griffith University, and headed by

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Coordinating Lead Author Professor Brendan Mackey.

The new research argues that extreme climate change conditions preceded the Black Saturday Fires in 2009, which destroyed thousands of homes and claimed 174 lives.

“Projected climate change means more extreme fire weather, especially in southeastern Australia,” Prof Mackey said.

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Australia’s devastating summer of bushfires could become a more frequent reality in the future, experts warn. Picture: Mitchell Hyde

Ash Buchanan walking through the remains of his family home, wiped out by the New Year’s Eve fires. Picture: Gaye Gerard

Historically, extreme fires have occurred on only a few days per decade, Prof Mackey said.

“But the BOM State of the Climate Report 2020 revealed the number of extreme heat events had increased tenfold from 14 in the 1960s to 141 in the 2010s, with 43 extreme heat events in 2019 alone.

“Climate change brings less winter rain in southern Australia, and so the forest is drier at the start of spring.”

Forest Fire Danger Indexes were at record levels across 60 per cent of Australia in the lead up to the catastrophic fires with the number of extreme heat events increasing tenfold since the 1960s.

The research argues that climate change made the extreme weather conditions during the 2018 Queensland fires 4.5 times more likely to occur.

The Report finds climate change is estimated to have made the extreme weather conditions during the 2018 Queensland fires 4.5 times more likely to occur.

Unsurprisingly, the worst fires in Australia’s history have come after long droughts.

“Fire seasons are projected to start earlier, last longer and be more intense as human-forced climate change continues to heat the planet,” Prof Mackey said.

As part of the new Bushfire Response the researchers are also launching the bushfirefacts.org website.