MELBOURNE, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Fierce heat, erratic winds and relentless fires are battering southeastern Australia, as scientists warn of worsening "climate whiplash," the rapid shift between fire and flood conditions intensified by climate change.
More than 30 bushfires were burning across the states of Victoria and New South Wales late Sunday, driven by extreme heat and gusty winds. Meanwhile, Cyclone Koji brought heavy rain and fierce winds to the northern state of Queensland.
One emerging aspect of such climate change is "hydroclimatic whiplash," sudden and often frequent transitions between very dry and very wet conditions, according to an article published Monday on The Conversation website.
"It can feel like the climate system is toggling between lots of different states: floods one minute, bushfires the next," said author David Bowman, professor of pyrogeography and fire science at the University of Tasmania.
Describing the phenomenon as "climate instability," Bowman said such intertwined extremes reflect a more unstable climate system.
Unpredictable fire behavior is being fueled by heatwaves that dry vegetation and trigger "dry lightning," igniting blazes without significant rainfall, according to the article, which cites the state of Tasmania, where violent fires in December were driven by rare Antarctic stratospheric warming events.
"The temperatures were not extraordinarily hot, and the vegetation wasn't extremely dry, but the winds were so intense they drove uncontrollable fires," Bowman wrote, adding that firefighting aircraft could not be used because of the winds.
Authorities warn that Australia faces increasingly dangerous fire seasons. Adapting will require stronger public awareness, better land management, and safer urban buffers, he added. ■