Australia bushfires clearly fuelled by climate change, inquest finds

Authorities recommend urgent action to limit the impact of extreme blazes, which are expected 'to become more frequent'

A Fire and Rescue NSW Rehabilitation vehicle drives past people walking along a road shrouded in smoke in Batemans Bay, New South Wales, Australia. Bloomberg

Smoke and flames rise from burning trees as bushfires hit the area around the town of Nowra in the Australian state of New South Wales. AFP

Firefighters hose down trees as they battle against bushfires around the town of Nowra in the Australian state of New South Wales. AFP

Burning embers cover the ground as firefighters battle against bushfires. AFP

This timed-exposure image shows firefighters hosing down trees as they battle against bushfires around the town of Nowra .AFP

Rural Fire Service (RFS) firefighters conduct property protection near the town of Sussex Inlet in Sydney, Australia. Getty

A truck driver prepares to move his vehicle through a roadblock bypass on the Princes Highway near the town of Sussex Inlet. Getty

Smoke and flames rise from burning trees as bushfires hit the area around the town of Nowra. AFP

The sky glows red as bushfires continue to rage in Mallacoota, Victoria, Australia. Reuters

Bruthen residents stand in a relief centre at Bairnsdale City Oval after they were evacuated from their house which was threatened by fire. EPA

A Country Fire Authority (CFA) firefighter at work at Clovemont Way in Bundoora, Melbourne, Australia. EPA

A Skycrane drops water on a bushfire in Bundoora, Melbourne, Australia. EPA

Commuters are seen as a Rural Fire Service (RFS) helicopter lands on the Princes Highway near the town of Sussex Inlet. Getty

A firefighter hoses down property in the hope of saving it from nearby bushfires around the town of Nowra. AFP

Smoke from bushfires rises high into the air as fires hit the area around the town of Nowra.AFP

Australia's devastating 2019-2020 bushfires were "clearly" fuelled by climate change, a government inquiry reported on Tuesday following some of the largest forest fires ever recorded worldwide.

With this year's fire season already under way, authorities recommended urgent action to limit the impact of extreme blazes, expected "to become more frequent" in future.

The deadly bushfires raged for nine months to March and were most severe in New South Wales state, where 11,000 fires burned over 5.5 million hectares – bigger than many countries.

Climate change as a result of increased greenhouse gas emissions clearly played a role in the conditions that lead up to the fires and in the unrelenting conditions that supported the fires to spread

After months of consultation and expert testimony, the New South Wales government on Tuesday published a 436-page report on the crisis that destroyed more than 2,400 homes in the state and left 26 people dead.

The text included dozens of recommendations and featured a blunt rebuke of those who insisted the fires were nothing to do with climate change.

"Climate change as a result of increased greenhouse gas emissions clearly played a role in the conditions that lead up to the fires and in the unrelenting conditions that supported the fires to spread," it said.

The report noted it was impossible to say what precise role climate change had played in producing the complex range of climatic conditions that helped fuel the fires.

Those conditions included a years-long drought, high winds, thunderstorms and low humidity.

While cautioning that "climate change does not explain everything that happened", the authors said the catastrophic conditions were "consistent with what climate change projections have been saying will happen".

"Extreme fires and fire seasons are likely to become more frequent," they warned.

The report also rubbished suggestions by those opposing action on climate change – including some inside Australia's conservative government – that arson and insufficient forest clearance were to blame.

Only 11 of the blazes in New South Wales were found to have been the work of an arsonist deliberately trying to start a bushfire.

Many of the largest fires were caused by lightning strikes in remote areas, the document said.

The report's recommendations largely focused on disaster response and mitigation, including the use of technology to detect remote fires more quickly, and increased aerial water-bombing to stop them growing beyond control.

"We couldn't get to all the new fires quickly enough, many of which were started by lightning in remote or rugged terrain," the report said.

"The scale of the fires stretched the capacity of the fire authorities and the underpinning systems to respond."

But there was also a warning that Australians may have to come to terms with "new extreme" conditions.

Bushfire-prone Australia has seen dozens of inquests into the causes of bushfires and steps that could be taken to mitigate them.

But many measures recommended by inquiries going back to the 1930s have still not been implemented.

A national-level Royal Commission is expected to produce its findings about the crisis by the end of the month.