Dataset of the Day: Australia’s Wildfires

February 11th, 2009by Brendan Lewis

Australia’s southern state of Victoria has struggled to contain the brush fires that are tearing through the state. Police officials have confirmed the death of 181 people thus far, and expect that number to exceed 200.

Police suspect arsonists played a role in starting the blazes that have quickly gotten out of control. The fires have become one of the nations worst natural disasters. Brush fires are not an uncommon occurrence in Australia, however the magnitude of these fires is unusually high. Gary Morgan, chief executive of the Brushfire Cooperative Research Centre, is quoted in a Wall Street Journal article saying, “climate change and drought are altering the nature, the ferocity and the duration of the brushfires.”

There are many theories on why these particular fires have gotten out of hand. Some point to the abnormal weather conditions over this past weekend, in which temperatures set record highs and humidity levels plummeted.

Others believe that extended climate changes over time are to blame. Blaming the lack of precipitation in the area along with rising temperatures in population centers. The area around Melbourne has suffered from drought conditions for nearly a decade.

Here is a map of Australia mashing together the recorded fires from the previous 7 days / 48 Hours / 24 hours along with rainfall measurements. As you can see the southern part of Australia collected very little rain this month. Please zoom in for a better perspective.

Others go further and believe that the shifting population in in Australia is to blame. They believe that the recent trend of people moving into more rural areas to escape the city is to blame. Stating that these newcomers are less familiar than longtime rural residents with precautions needed to prevent wildfires and are less prepared to escape when fires occur.