<story><title>&apos;Megafire&apos; in Australia Engulfs 1.5M Acres</title><url>https://www.npr.org/2020/01/10/795169417/enormous-mega-fire-in-australia-engulfs-1-5-million-acres</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>giacaglia</author><text>Is this historically different from previous instances? &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Bushfires_in_Australia&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Bushfires_in_Australia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Just skimming wikipedia and there are a bunch of bushfires that were bigger than this instance, and bushfires seem pretty common there</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>0xff00ffee</author><text>I&amp;#x27;ve seen this link pop up as a meme on conservative reddit forums for the past month, but with additional text using it to dismiss climate change.&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind, Australia is huge and has different climates.&lt;p&gt;While this isn&amp;#x27;t the biggest fire of all Australia, it is the biggest fire of that region in history by ~10x (according to that wikipedia link).&lt;p&gt;This is highly unusual.&lt;p&gt;And as a result of being in populated areas, it has done the most dollars of damage of any fire. This is what climate change advocates are pointing to: increased fires in areas that normally do not have them.</text></comment>
<story><title>&apos;Megafire&apos; in Australia Engulfs 1.5M Acres</title><url>https://www.npr.org/2020/01/10/795169417/enormous-mega-fire-in-australia-engulfs-1-5-million-acres</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>giacaglia</author><text>Is this historically different from previous instances? &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Bushfires_in_Australia&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Bushfires_in_Australia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Just skimming wikipedia and there are a bunch of bushfires that were bigger than this instance, and bushfires seem pretty common there</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>goodcanadian</author><text>Bushfires are a natural part of the ecosystem in Australia. Many plants are adapted specifically to survive and thrive after bushfire conditions. However, bushfires on this scale is somewhat unprecedented.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s a bit like 5 hurricanes hitting Florida in one summer. Aren&amp;#x27;t hurricanes normal in Florida?</text></comment>