Off the wire
• 1st LD-Writethru: China confirms death of hostage held by IS  • Japan posts first trade surplus in 7 months in October  • 1st LD: Australian gov't blocks foreign companies buying largest cattle operation  • IS tells local supporters to seek inspiration from Australia's October terror attack  • Xinhua, AAP pledge for closer cooperation  • Colombian artist Botero travels to China to exhibit works  • Urgent: Xi strongly condemns IS for Chinese hostage death  • Tokyo stocks rise in morning on enhanced expectation of U.S. interest rate hike  • Rising sea level threats at least 9,000 New Zealand homes: report  • Philippine VP hails Xi's keynote speech at APEC CEO summit  
You are here: 　 Home

Australia must double number of firefighters to tackle growing bushfire problem: report

Xinhua, November 19, 2015 Adjust font size:

Australia will need to double the size of its firefighting force in the next 15 years as bushfire seasons become longer and more severe, a new Australian report has found.

With out-of-control bushfires killing four people in Western Australia on Wednesday, and the forecast of a 'horror' summer ahead, Australia's independent climate watchdog, the Climate Council, has sounded an alarm about the nation's firefighting requirements in coming years.

Amanda McKenzie, CEO of the Climate Council, said on Thursday the earth's rising temperatures meant the climate in Australia was now "on steroids" and increased the likelihood of devastating and destructive bushfires.

"Climate change is worsening this bushfire weather. Heatwaves are hotter, longer and occurring more often," McKenzie told The Huffington Post Australia on Thursday.

"We estimate firefighters' numbers need to double by 2030."

The report, 'The Burning Issue: Climate Change and the Australian Bushfire Threat', discovered that between 1978 and 2013 the length of Australia's bushfire season -- usually confined to summer, when temperatures can soar above 40 degrees Celsius across the country -- had increased by 19 percent.

Within the report, the Climate Council Counsel also explored how Australia would manage to continue to pool its fire-combatting resources with the United States (U.S.), as both regions' seasons now almost overlap.

"We've seen long fire seasons in the U.S, also in Australia even in autumn and spring. Australia and the U.S. often share resources, personnel and equipment, so when the seasons overlap, it is harder to share," McKenzie said.

"That's the worry for the future, that it will be more challenging for firefighting services," he added.

Unseasonably low rainfall across the country during the winter and spring months due to the presence of an El Nino has only exacerbated the problem, according to McKenzie.

"The climate is on steroids. Globally, 2015 is likely to surpass 2014 as the hottest year on record and this past September was the hottest ever recorded, the seventh month this year to break such a record," McKenzie said.

"Australia's climate change action is not enough to protect Australians from worsening bushfires." Endit