File:Fires in Northern Territory, Australia (MODIS 2017-03-01).jpg

English: A cluster of fires burned in Australia’s Northern Territory in late February 2017. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this true-color image on February 22.

Each red hot spot is an area where the thermal bands on the MODIS instrument detected temperatures significantly higher than background. When accompanied by typical smoke, as in this image, such hot spots are diagnostic for actively burning fire. There appears to be a dozen or more relatively large fires clustered north of Nitmiluk National Park.

Australia has experienced a difficult weather year, even though the year is only two months old. With temperatures soaring to record highs in many locations in late January and early February, intense fire-hazard weather fueled numerous bushfires in many localities. The fires were especially intense and devastating in New South Wales. The suffocating heat has also fueled discussions of “too-hot-to-learn” legislation which would allow schools to close when heat emergencies strike.

Heat and fires are only part of the difficult and chaotic weather. Heavy rains have also caused drenched parts of Australia, especially the Northern Territory. While rain helps fight bushfires, drenching rains bring flooding and hazards to homes and livestock.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) released the fourth biennial State of the Climate report in October 2016. This report provides an update on the changes and long-term trends in Australia’s climate. The report discusses many significant climate issues; one statement relevant to fire weather is as follows: “The terrestrial climate has warmed by about 1 degree Celsius since 1910, with an accompanying increase in the duration, frequency, and intensity of extreme heat events across large parts of Australia. There has been an increase in extreme fire weather, and a lengthening of the fire season in the most fire-prone regions since the 1970s.” The trend is expected to continue.