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Explainer | Australia’s bush fires are unprecedented – what’s the link to climate change?

  • Fires have reached greater intensity and scale, but experts warn such events are likely to become more common
  • Prime Minister Scott Morrison has dismissed calls to take stronger action on emissions

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Firefighters struggle to secure houses from bushfires near the town of Nowra in the Australian state of New South Wales. Photo: AFP

Australia is under the international spotlight as massive bush fires rage across vast swathes of the country, leaving death and destruction in their wake.

Shocking images of devastation in a country known for its natural environment and laid-back lifestyle have reverberated around the world.

HOW BAD ARE THE FIRES?

The wildfires have killed at least 18 people and destroyed hundreds, perhaps thousands, of homes in regional areas of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia since October.

Some of the greatest devastation has occurred in the last fortnight, with 10 people killed and hundreds of properties lost since Christmas Day alone.

Dozens more are injured or missing. More than 5 million hectares, an area greater than the size of Wales, have been burned.

On Thursday, the Premier of New South Wales, the country’s most populous state, declared a state of emergency, allowing for the forcible evacuation of residents, as authorities predicted even more intense fires due to a forecast spike in temperatures during the weekend.

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