{"id":28252,"date":"2020-01-22T05:24:51","date_gmt":"2020-01-22T04:24:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=28252"},"modified":"2020-07-30T08:43:28","modified_gmt":"2020-07-30T06:43:28","slug":"fact-check-australias-unprecedented-fires-are-down-to-climate-change-not-arson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/28252\/fact-check-australias-unprecedented-fires-are-down-to-climate-change-not-arson\/","title":{"rendered":"Fact Check: Australia\u2019s unprecedented fires are down to climate change, not arson"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A lot of misinformation has been circulating online that puts all the blame for Australia’s unprecedented fires on arson or green policies \u2013 anything other than climate change. Spreading the myth that most fires were deliberately lit is a diversion that is both dangerous and wrong. Here is a fact check tackling some of the rumours:<\/em><\/p>\n\n

The fires in Australia \u2013 which are still burning \u2013 have so far killed 29 people and an estimated one billion animals,<\/a> scorching 17.1 million hectares, more than two-thirds the size of the United Kingdom. <\/p>\n\n

This devastation of epic proportions has got some journalists and politicians in Australia rushing to find someone to blame. While most now realise the scale of the damage is down to climate change, many people have been misled into thinking a lot of the fires were deliberately lit, for example.<\/p>\n\n

This has been reported as a coordinated effort<\/a> to shift blame away from climate change in order to protect Australia\u2019s leaders \u2013 who have no credible climate action plans.\u00a0Those who are rightly devastated at the loss of life, homes, livelihoods and nature deserve the truth.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

\"Drone
Drone stills around Kangaroo Valley following bushfires.
\u00a9 Byron Ross \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Is it true that the fires are no worse than in previous years? <\/strong>

No. They are unprecedented<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

The fires started months before they usually do, and have continued to rage during an unprecedented drought and an unprecedented heatwave.<\/p>\n\n

The Australian weather bureau has confirmed<\/a> that 2019 was the nation\u2019s warmest and driest year on record. And while there have been other really bad fire years, scientists have confirmed that conditions this summer are fundamentally worse.<\/a><\/p>\n\n

Australia\u2019s usual bushfire season started in spring rather than the more usual summer \u2013 and hit much harder because of the hot, dry conditions. Rainfall was reportedly 40% lower across the country last year. The Climate Council \u2013 an Australian climate change organisation \u2013 reported that, in some parts of New South Wales, fire services have pushed<\/a> the start of the \u201cdanger period\u201d for fires from October to August.<\/p>\n\n

A coalition of former fire chiefs has been trying to meet<\/a> with the prime minister since April 2019, as they feared this fire season would be longer and deadlier because of the climate crisis. They allege that current chiefs have been locked out of discussions and were \u201cnot allowed\u201d to mention climate change.<\/p>\n\n

\u00a9 Emeran Gainville \/ Greenpeace<\/div> \u00a9 Emeran Gainville \/ Greenpeace” alt=”Bushfire Smoke over Sydney Harbour.
\u00a9 Emeran Gainville \/ Greenpeace<\/div> \u00a9 Emeran Gainville \/ Greenpeace” class=”wp-image-28255″\/>
Bushfire Smoke over Sydney Harbour.
\u00a9 Emeran Gainville \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Were the fires deliberately lit by arsonists? <\/strong>

No<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

Australia has just experienced<\/a> its hottest, driest year on record, creating tinderbox-like conditions. Every year in Australia, fires are started by any number of things. They can start accidentally through a spark from a chainsaw or from a barbeque. <\/p>\n\n

Rural Fire Services have said some of the biggest fires in New South Wales were started by \u201cdry lightning\u201d<\/a>. This occurs without any accompanying rain reaching the ground and strikes dried-up land and vegetation. Some fires are even generating their own thunderstorms, which creates lightning, which then starts more fires. <\/p>\n\n

So the unprecedented nature of these fires is not because there has been a sudden increase in malicious activity: it’s because of climate change.<\/p>\n\n

But powerful voices around the world<\/a> have helped spread the rumour that fires were deliberately lit. Academics researching Twitter concluded that this was the result of a coordinated online disinformation campaign,<\/a> which used bots to drive certain hashtags into social media. This ultimately spread the lie that climate change wasn\u2019t to blame after all.<\/p>\n\n

This lie has spread so far that even a UK government minister said in the Commons<\/a> that \u201cit has been widely reported on social media that 75% of the fires were started by arsonists\u201d. However, experts estimate that only about 1%<\/a> (at most) of the fires were deliberately lit in NSW and Victoria.<\/p>\n\n

\u00a9 Dean Sewell \/ Greenpeace<\/div> \u00a9 Dean Sewell \/ Greenpeace” alt=”Bushfire survivors Dean Kennedy and Melinda Plesman. Survivors of Australia\u2019s ongoing bushfire emergency deliver the remains of their home to Parliament House in Canberra. Their family home of 35 years, in Nymboida, NSW, was destroyed by bushfires which tore through the town on Friday 8 November.
\u00a9 Dean Sewell \/ Greenpeace<\/div> \u00a9 Dean Sewell \/ Greenpeace” class=”wp-image-28257″\/>
Bushfire survivors Dean Kennedy and Melinda Plesman. Survivors of Australia\u2019s ongoing bushfire emergency deliver the remains of their home to Parliament House in Canberra. Their family home of 35 years, in Nymboida, NSW, was destroyed by bushfires which tore through the town on Friday 8 November.
\u00a9 Dean Sewell \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Have \u201cGreenies\u201d lobbied against fire-control practices in order to blame climate change? <\/strong>

No<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

Why would \u201cGreenies\u201d \u2013 the Australian term for nature-lovers \u2013 want to allow fires to destroy a billion animals, when their professed desire is to stop wildlife habitats being destroyed and keeping our planet habitable? It just doesn\u2019t make sense on any level. <\/p>\n\n

Rumours that people who care about nature would oppose measures to prevent fires from ravaging homes and lives are simply false. The director of the centre for environmental risk management of bushfires at the University of Wollongong, quoted in the Guardian,<\/a> said that \u201cthese are very tired and very old conspiracy theories\u201d and have \u201cbeen extensively dealt with in many inquiries\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

\u00a9 Cole Bennetts \/ Greenpeace<\/div> \u00a9 Cole Bennetts \/ Greenpeace” alt=”Smoke Haze in Sydney, NSW.
\u00a9 Cole Bennetts \/ Greenpeace<\/div> \u00a9 Cole Bennetts \/ Greenpeace” class=”wp-image-28254″\/>
Smoke Haze in Sydney, NSW.
\u00a9 Cole Bennetts \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Are city-dwellers affected by the fires? <\/strong>

Yes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

Australia\u2019s deputy prime minister called concerned city-dwellers \u201craving inner city lunatics\u201d<\/a> for linking the fires to climate change. There\u2019s also criticism spreading online that people who live in cities shouldn\u2019t get involved because the fires don\u2019t affect them.<\/p>\n\n

The truth is that numerous towns and cities have been shrouded in fire-ash pollution, meaning keeping the doors and windows closed in the middle of the summer. In a heatwave. 
Experts have warned<\/a> of the long term health effects to people \u2013 especially young children \u2013 as a result of the toxic haze. <\/p>\n\n

Indoor air purifiers have nearly sold out.<\/a> Children can\u2019t play outside. Babies and toddlers can\u2019t even breathe without it affecting their health. There is even a concern that urban water supplies will become polluted<\/a> with ash.<\/p>\n\n

Despite these conditions, people have taken to the streets \u2013 their country is quite literally on fire.\u00a0 As climate change has become a terrifying reality affecting many Australians directly, powerful actors \u2013 who always claimed it wouldn\u2019t have any real impact \u2013 are making desperate attempts to distract the public from their lack of action.<\/p>\n\n

\u00a9 Dean Sewell \/ Greenpeace<\/div> \u00a9 Dean Sewell \/ Greenpeace” alt=”Climate emergency rally at Sydney Town Hall, NSW.
\u00a9 Dean Sewell \/ Greenpeace<\/div> \u00a9 Dean Sewell \/ Greenpeace” class=”wp-image-28256″\/>
Climate emergency rally at Sydney Town Hall, NSW.
\u00a9 Dean Sewell \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Surely now\u2019s not the time to talk about climate change though? <\/strong>

Now is exactly the time<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

These fires are devastating and have caused apocalyptic losses of human life, wildlife and forests. The bravery of firefighters and the resourcefulness of communities has rightfully been, and should continue to be, commended.<\/p>\n\n

Australian politicians have suggested<\/a> in the media that the aftermath of such disasters is not the time to talk about climate change. But fire survivors themselves say that now is exactly the time Australian politicians need to draw the link.<\/p>\n\n

Australian politicians and parts of the media need to stop pushing lies online about the fires being deliberately lit and tackle the real cause of the crisis \u2013 the climate emergency.<\/p>\n\n

For Australia, as one of the world\u2019s largest exporters of coal,<\/a> this means some serious re-thinking of their contribution to the problem.<\/p>\n\n

Helle Abelvik-Lawson is a Web Content Producer at Greenpeace UK<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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