Climate council: A link between climate change and bushfires in Australia

The Climate Council of Australia, an independent non-profit organization, has brought forward some of the interim findings from a new bushfires and climate change report to emphasize some important facts into the debate around climate change and bushfires, according to its latest statement on Friday. The Climate Council is an independent non-profit organization funded by donations by the public. According to its official website, its mission is to provide authoritative, expert advice to the Australian public on climate change. Prof Will Steffen from the Climate Council said in the statement that there is a clear link between climate change and bushfires -- climate change is making hot days hotter. It's making heatwaves more frequent and severe. And the Climate Council confirmed that it's common for bushfires in October, but bushfires of this scale, scope and intensity are indeed uncommon. "In Australia, climate change is influencing both the frequency and intensity of extreme heat, and may also be playing a role in the long-term drying trend in the southeast. This increases the risk of bushfires by increasing extreme fire weather," Steffen said. According to Climate Councillor Prof. Lesley Hughes, "last summer was the hottest on record across Australia. Last September was also the hottest September on record". And Prof. Lesley Hughes emphasized that Southeast Australia is experiencing a long-term drying trend. "This is consistent with the IPCC special report on extreme weather, which projects an increase in the number of consecutive dry days in southeast Australia," Hughes said. Hughes also confirmed that it is crucial for the public, emergency service workers and health workers to be able to prepare for more of this type of extreme weather. "To deny the influence of climate change on extreme fire weather, and not take appropriate action to prepare for these changed conditions, places people and property at unnecessarily high risk," Hughes added.