SINGAPORE
Climate change has driven record-breaking outbreaks of fire in Africa, Asia and elsewhere this year, with conditions expected to get worse as the northern hemisphere’s summer approaches and El Nino weather patterns kick in, scientists warned on Tuesday. Fires from January to April have already caused unprecedented levels of damage, burning more than 150 million hectares (370.66 million acres) of land, 20% more than the previous record, according to data compiled by World Weather Attribution, a research group that studies the role played by global warming in extreme weather events. The researchers said temperature records could be broken this year, causing widespread drought as well as fires, with the impact of human-induced climate change compounded by an especially strong El Nino effect
