Heatwave and High Winds Threaten to Worsen Australian Bushfires

As of today, there are 64 bushfires burning in New South Wales, 18 in Victoria, and five in South Australia, a situation that may grow worse given the forecast for a heatwave and high winds in the coming days. These conditions are forecast to hit New South Wales and Victoria beginning Friday, threatening to spark new life into some of the current fires or create new blazes. Altogether, the blazes have burned more than 11.7 million hectares (117,000 square km) across Australia’s most populous states, killing at least 33 people, about 1 billion animals, and destroying 2,500 homes. Australia’s dangerous summer weather has largely been driven by temperature variations in the Indian Ocean, which the country’s weather bureau has said are likely to keep conditions hot and dry until March. Read the article at Reuters.