, Columnist
Australia Hoped to Dodge Wildfires. El Niño Has Other Plans
The climate cycle is back and a new load of fuel is waiting to be primed.
This year, many hoped for some respite. El Niño has other plans.
Photographer: SAEED KHAN/AFPThis article is for subscribers only.
The declaration of El Niño conditions in the middle of a spring heatwave is the sort of news that can cause dread in Australia.
The climate cycle brings warm water to the tropical Pacific Ocean and hot, dry conditions to much of the globe, raising the risk of wildfires in the Amazon and Southeast Asia while tending to reduce them in the western US. In Australia, the conflagrations can be particularly devastating: the 1983, 2003, 2007, 2010 and 2015 fire seasons, some of the most damaging in the country’s history, all occurred during El Niño.