Where will the next megafire break out? Climate change is making it tougher to predict |
Much of south-eastern Australia is currently in the grip of a heatwave, which is expected to peak over the next two days. Heatwaves often trigger bushfires, particularly if combined with strong winds.
Fires are already burning in Victoria and South Australia, and others are expected.
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However, heatwaves don’t always cause bushfires. Despite widespread heatwaves in the summer of 2018–19, it wasn’t until the following summer that Australia witnessed record breaking bushfires. These 2019–20 megafires were largely due to severe drought, which coincided with catastrophic fire weather conditions. These conditions primed the landscape for fire, with the megafires primarily ignited by