But the scale of the fires affecting several states, particularly New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia, is, according to some on the front lines, unprecedented. Those with a handle on reality recognise the fingerprints of climate change all over this unfolding disaster. Australia remains extremely “ungreen” and has a government more interested in the economy than the environment or climate change. There have been highly damaging fires in recent years across several South Island regions, and climate change projections suggest in future there will be many more. Cool, rainy changes are few and far between in the summer months and have been especially so over the past few years.

Source: Otago Daily Times December 29, 2019 14:26 UTC