Why is Australia prone to bushfires?

Answer 1

Australia is basically a hot, dry continent. Bushfires thrive in this environment. Even in cool weather, earlier rains cause vegetation to grow rapidly and when the rains stop and the vegetation dries out, the fire danger become high, regardless of the temperature.

Answer 2

The Australian term for wildfires is bushfires. Australia has a lot of bushfires because the summers tend to be long, hot and dry in the southern areas. Surprisingly, although temperatures up north in Queensland and the Northern Territory are higher, there are far fewer major bushfires - and this is primarily because it is more humid. The NT, especially, is subject to a summer monsoonal season. The Australian bush is prime fire-feeding territory. Eucalyptus trees literally explode with the heat of a bushfire, thereby increasing the spread and ferocity of a fire. as well, there are often dry northwesterly winds which also fan the flames into terrifying infernos that simply cannot be controlled.

Answer 3

Australia, particularly the southeastern region, is prone to bushfires for several reasons:

• It is a very dry continent with lower rainfall than other continents
• It is drought-prone, with long, hot, dry summers in the southern states
• Vegetation, as a result, becomes very dry, easily ignited and tinder for fires
• Gum trees (eucalyptus) are highly inflammable, and likely to literally explode with the heat in fires, creating even worse conditions for fire-fighters
• There is a great deal of natural bushland which is more flammable than vegetation in places like Europe and North America

  Bushfires also occur regularly in Queensland and the Northern Territory, but they are worse where there is less rain, rather than in areas where the wet seson is clearly defined. Central Queensland and Rockhampton, for example, are bushfire-prone, and these areas are much drier than the southeast, where minor bushfires are quickly and easily contained.

Answer 4

Because of the dryness and lack of moisture. Australia is near the equator so it's very heated.

Clarification:

Australia is not particularly close to the equator - over 1000km at its closest point -and, interestingly, those areas in the far north (which are closest to the equator) are characterised by either tropical rainforest or extensive wetlands, neither of which is prone to bushfires.

The southern regions of Australia, farthest from the equator, are the hottest and driest areas, and covered by extensive tracts of native eucalyptus bushland which can become tinder-dry during summer, as well as rugged terrain which allows bushfires to travel with deadly speed. During summer, these southern regions can be subject to heatwaves and searingly hot winds from the central deserts which dry out the vegetation even further. This makes it easily ignited, whether by lightning strikes (a common phenomenon during summer), a careless toss if a cigarette or a stray spark from a car's exhaust.

Answer 5

There are currently many fires in Australia because of the climate change. It is so hot that they have added a new climate zone onto the map of Australia (deep purple) which means the temperature is over 120 degrees.

Hope that answered your question!