Causes of the Widespread 2019-2020 Australian Bushfire Season

The recent bushfires (2019-2020) in New South Wales (NSW) Australia were catastrophic by claiming human and animal lives, affecting ecosystems, destroying infrastructure, and more. Recent studies have investigated relationships between hydroclimatic signals and past bushfires, and very recently, a few commentary papers claimed drought and fuel moisture content as the probable causes for the widespread 2019-2020 bushfires. Therefore, in this study, a novel work of encompassing a wide range of factors attributing to the recent bushfires is presented. Empirical evidence-based statistical methods are used to identify the hydroclimatic variables and geomorphic characteristics contributing to the 2019-2020 bushfires. The results highlight that ongoing drought, surface soil moisture (SSM), wind speed (WS10), relative humidity (RH), heat waves (HW), dead and live fuel moisture, and certain land cover types create favorable conditions for fire ignition and aid in fire propagation in different regions of the NSW state. The findings suggest that accounting for the above-identified variables in bushfire prediction and monitoring system are crucial in avoiding such catastrophes in the future. The overarching application of this study is developing robust and more versatile fire protection planning and management.