El Nino is officially declared in Australia: here’s why the summer promises to be very hot and dry
Australia is on bushfire alert after the Bureau of Meteorology confirmed the onset of an El Nino weather phenomenon, increasing the risks of a hot and dry summer.
It follows a period of broken world weather records and a series of natural disasters that brought deadly heatwaves and devastating floods across the northern hemisphere.
El Nino is the opposite of La Niña and causes hot, dry weather which can increase the risk of bushfires.
Australia is already suffering from several bushfires on the east coast, with homes evacuated yesterday in Queensland and a huge fire sweeping through the countryside near Cessnock in New South Wales.
The area around Coles Bay, Tasmania, was also evacuated on Tuesday after a bushfire spread out of control and threatened local homes.
Meteorologists are also warning of a “catastrophic” fire risk on the NSW south coast as high temperatures combine with surprisingly strong winds.
The Bureau of Meteorology officially declared an El Nino weather event for Australia on Tuesday, two months after the World Meteorological Organization announced a global El Nino was underway.
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