Australia suffers under a brutal heat wave

Australia is experiencing a brutal heat wave, with some southern cities recording temperatures of 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Meteorologists say conditions are the worst in six years, when bushfires destroyed wide swaths of southeastern Australia in what became known as the Black Summer. Several fires are burning now, and three people are missing. Such temperatures are common in northern Australia, but relatively infrequent in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. For the significance of environmental disasters, read Why ‘Natural’ Disasters?