Unprecedented Australian bushfires stoke a debate about climate change

EVEN FOR A country accustomed to bushfires, the scenes look apocalyptic. Swathes of eastern Australia have burned. As The Economist went to press, more than 129 fires were raging in the states of New South Wales and Queensland. Together they have swallowed more than 2.5m acres (1m hectares), producing smoke so thick that it can be seen from space. At least 200 homes have been incinerated and four people killed in the inferno.

Never before have bushfires struck Australia on such a scale. Many people have been surprised by their ferocity. The blazes have reached the outer suburbs of Sydney, a city of over 5m people (the police are investigating whether some of the fires that threatened it were lit on purpose). They were also edging towards Noosa, a popular beach resort in Queensland, where residents were evacuated. “We are used to floods, not flames,” says Denise Knight, the mayor of Coffs Harbour, a city on the northern coast of New South Wales, close to one of the biggest blazes.