Australia is facing a summer of extreme weather, with heatwaves, droughts, and bushfires expected to hit large parts of the country, especially in the east and south.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has warned that the strengthening of an El Niño weather event in the Pacific Ocean, combined with a positive Indian Ocean Dipole in the Indian Ocean, will bring hot and dry conditions to Australia, increasing the risk of fire and water shortages.
El Niño and the Indian Ocean Dipole are natural climate phenomena that occur every few years and affect the rainfall and temperature patterns across the globe. However, scientists say that human-caused global warming is making these events more frequent and intense, as well as exacerbating their impacts.