It s Australia s first big blaze of the fire season. How bad will the summer get?
A recent report on last year’s fires from an independent Royal Commission acknowledged that climate change had already significantly increased the risk of natural disasters in Australia. New York Times December 10, 2020 / 03:23 PM IST
A landscape shrouded in smoke from nearby bushfires is seen near Bumbalong, New South Wales, Australia in February 2020. (Image: Reuters)
The first major blaze of Australia s wildfire season has now blackened roughly half of Fraser Island, an idyllic getaway north of Brisbane renowned for its golden beaches and lush biodiversity.
With evacuation orders reaching residents Monday, Australians who had hoped there wasn’t much more to burn after last year’s colossal fires are grappling with a brutal reminder: In a vast country that is fire-prone and especially vulnerable to climate change, the risk of record-breaking i