In a summer that was supposed to be unusually cool and wet, Australian builder Rob Lye did not expect to be trapped by a bushfire on sub-tropical Fraser Island and battling with his neighbours to protect their homes.

With climate change overriding some of Australia’s more moderating weather forces, scientists say wildfires like the one that tore through half of the island’s forest in recent weeks are increasingly likely.

“We just found a safe spot to settle and rest while the fire was burning,” said Lye, 52, of the island’s Happy Valley township.

“It wasn’t pleasant,” he said, adding that the local community, many of whom opted against following an evacuation order, saved all 50 or so houses before sheltering for safety as fire tore through the island on Monday.

The first major bushfires of the 2020-21 fire season first broke out in the southern hemisphere spring even as Australia was still recovering from last season’s record infernos, which not long ago would have been considered a once-in-a-generation event.

Research released in March found that human-caused global warming made the 2019-20 fires at least 30% more likely to occur.

Read the full article on the Reuters website, featuring Prof Mark Howden