(Bloomberg) -- Some of Australia’s key wine growing regions, along with vast tracts of grazing land and regional towns, are facing higher risks of wildfires this summer, according to a seasonal outlook.
Large areas of southwest Victoria, parts of New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia, which are used for wine production, agriculture, livestock and tourism could see significant fires, the report published by the National Council for Fire and Emergency Services on Thursday show.
Australia has a turbulent history of fires. The Black Summer event in late 2019 and early 2020 burnt an area about the size of the UK and killed an estimated 1 billion native animals, with insurance claims totaling over A$2.3 billion ($1.5 billion). Blazes razed homes and led to 33 direct deaths, with smoke spreading halfway across the globe, darkening skies in Argentina and beyond.
The wine areas under threat include the Riverina in NSW, Henty in Victoria and Coonawarra in South Australia, regions where Penfolds maker Treasury Wines Estates Ltd. owns vineyards. The 2019-20 fires had an economic impact on the industry of about A$665 million, according to Wine Australia.
Peak fire season on Australia’s heavily populated east coast typically starts in September in Queensland, with regions to the south seeing increased risks over the following months. Areas around major cities including Melbourne and Canberra usually see higher fire danger from December to February.
Changing Climate
A warming climate has led to an increase in extreme fires across large parts of Australia since the 1950s, according to the country’s weather bureau. Blazes have scorched large parts of Europe this year, threatened sugar crops in Brazil and oil-sands operations in Canada.
In Australia’s Victoria state, a lack of rain over the past 18 months has led to a large amount of dead and dry plants in forests, making it easier for wildfires to start and spread, according to the report. Significant parts of greater Melbourne, the Mornington Peninsula and southwest Gippsland also face an elevated threat. The state was devastated by the Black Saturday event in 2009.
Elsewhere, rainfall has hindered some controlled burning efforts in New South Wales, which has led to greater grass growth, while dryness in other areas has primed forests to fuel fast moving fires in the state, the report said. Parts of Western Australia, including the grain belt around Esperance and near the Margaret River wine region could also see significant risk of fires.
Emergency crews are already trying to contain a blaze north of Perth, the capital of Western Australia, which has forced the evacuation of at least six towns, according to local media. On the east coast, people across NSW, including Sydney’s five million residents, are sweltering through the fourth day of a heat wave that threatened electricity reserves earlier in the week.
Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather, from drought and wildfires to violent storms and flooding. Since the Black Summer fires, insurers have paid out almost A$20 billion in natural disaster claims, according to the Insurance Council of Australia.
--With assistance from Kevin Dharmawan.
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