This is the age of the megafire – and it’s being fuelled by our leaders | Tim Flannery

In the face of the climate disaster it helped create, the Australian government has given us only lies and denialUnprecedented wildfires have recently devastated California, the Amazon, southern Europe, Siberia and Australia. It ’s safe to say that we’ve entered the era of the climate-fuelled megafire. But because fire conditions depend on local vegetation, topography and climate, each of these great conflagrations is different.Australia ’s bushfires of the last four months have been true megafires, creating their own weather and becoming so vast in their impact thatmore than half of all Australians have been directly affected by them. As I write, fires continue to burn around Canberra, and though rain has begun to fall in northern New South Wales, 17 are “yet to be contained” according to thefire service. Meanwhile, what is traditionally the worst part of the fire season for Victoria and South Australia is just commencing. Conditions have been so severe that firefighters have often been unable to stop fires joining up, generating massive dry thunderstorms that spread fire with thousands of lightning strikes.Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Australia news Bushfires World news Natural disasters and extreme weather Climate change Science Scott Morrison Fossil fuels Australia weather Health Energy Environment Source Type: news