The ACT's rural fire chief says climate change is having a significant effect on worsening bushfire conditions and firefighters' ability to predict and control fires.
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ACT Rural Fire Service chief officer Joe Murphy said there was no doubt climate change was affecting the Australian landscape and making it more susceptible to devastating bushfires.
The ACT had its first total fire ban on Monday in response to hot and gusty conditions and to stand in partnership with NSW, which is suffering from "unprecedented" bushfires.
Chief officer Murphy's comments come after politicians, notably the deputy prime minister, criticised people for linking the NSW bushfires which have claimed three lives to climate change.
He said his beliefs regarding climate change were both a personal and professional stance and were shared by the ACT government.
"We are seeing a change in the Australian climate, we are seeing a change in our weather patterns," chief officer Murphy said.
"We are seeing a change in what this means on the landscape, the amount of water we have access to.
"The way in which our average temperatures and average rainfall are now changing quite dynamically and quite quickly and is starting to skew all the predictive work that goes on.
"Right now climate action is a key focus of ACT government."
He said both the government and Emergency Services Agency had last month reviewed the bushfire management plan and elevated the need for both parties to deal with climate change.
Last year's bushfire season was extended, which chief officer Murphy said was a possibility again this season and the lack of rainfall meant there was an opportunity for a flammable landscape to extend through the year.
"We're relying more and more on firefighting resources to be well-equipped and year round," he said.
Some politicians have levelled criticism at the Greens and other who they claim opposed prescribed burns in national parks and other areas, which they say partially led to the scale of the current NSW fires.
However, chief officer Murphy said this was not an issue in the ACT where hazard reduction was a priority.
"What holds us back is the weather," he said.
The opportunities where conditions were safe to conduct a prescribed burn were becoming fewer as the landscape and climate changes, he said.
"We are having to adapt and innovate the way we do fuel management to meet a changing climate," chief officer Murphy said.
The conditions for the ACT are expected to ease as the week progresses with cooler temperatures and winds dropping.
The fire danger rating is expected to drop from Very High to High.
Chief officer Murphy said residents needed to prepare now and not when fires arrive.
He said people needed to inspect properties to clear combustible material and to implement a bushfire survival plan and stick to it.