Continuing a theme of climate impacts on fire. Here in SE Australia, we are in severe drought, while much of the North floods. Last Sunday night/Monday morning we had a rare and very strong Southern Ocean Vortex and with winter a week away, widely scattered wild fires starting near midnight .

From a very early start to the fire season, how are things as they stand right now? (See attached)Tomorrow is a total fire ban (again). I will be assigned to Ground Observations (again), and whilst in theory I could be operating anywhere in the state, it's probable we will stay close to home.

Here's the situation at the end of NYD. Mild days, humidity not low, winds generally Southerly. But overall, a drought, with very little ground moisture, and the fire season started early.

As of now, for now, the fire is mostly staying within the control lines

I returned last Friday night from strike teams duties. Obligatory smoke shot

Looks benign enough doesn't it. But the point where we took obs, is now kilometres into the black, and the burnt area is about 10 times bigger.

Here's a view from that day

The terrible irony of being unable to contribute to a paper on climate change because one is on the ground mapping, and fighting, fires which are unquestionably climate change enhanced.
On Dec 20 our team GIntel6 did a sweep of the Eastern side of fires started by lightning in the Grampians.

A bit of an introduction. What's it like working in Climate Change and being a fire fighter in one of the real hot-spots?
Our South Eastern Australian fire season has kicked off early under a lash of a dry winter and spring. I fill several roles in the CFA, and this photo encapsulates two.

Oddly enough the core assumptions of the dismissive are uniformly incorrect. That it promotes one side only of a positive feedback loop, is documented on RealClimate from at leat 2006. It's not my domain so I only recently came across this one however.