Bushfires – Climate, people and policies

Abstract

Climate change plays a role in the increased intensification and frequency of bushfire seasons, although it promotes hot and dry conditions rather than directly causing fires. Prompted by the severe fire season in late 2019 and early 2020 in southeast Australia, this Commentary notes the complexity of the causal chain leading to such events, and focuses on the importance of ignition sources and fuel supply. Understanding these causal elements requires different research methods and data from the time-series analyses that underpin identification of climatic influences. Interventions that can mitigate future fire risk and impact may need to focus more on ignition and fuel rather than on climate change; but they are likely to be politically, practically and financially difficult to implement.