There's been some very noticable changes to the climate along the east coast of Australia (where the fires are). Along the east coast the El Nino/La Nina cyles

There's been some very noticable changes to the climate along the east coast of Australia (where the fires are). Along the east coast the El Nino/La Nina cyles are becoming much, much more pronounced. Droughts are longer and more severe during the El Nino cycle, floods and rains are also stronger during the wet La Nina cycle. While this lowers the risk of fire during the La Nina cycle, it also significantly increases it during the El Nino cycle because: 1. Drier conditions mean more fire. A lot of trees are shedding their bark, a lot more flammable material generally 2. Less backburning & fire prevention measures can be done during the La Nina cycle because conditions have become too wet to do so, meaning that fires are becoming more intense because more leaf matter and debris are building up during those years Fire is a pretty regular part of the Australian bushland, but in the past they used to be more regular and not as severe (And very rarely get completely out of control like it has done the last couple of times)