Arson and the Australian Wildfires

13 Articles

Featured on Snopes today: Conspiracy theorists claim nearly 200 Australians were arrested for deliberately setting bushfires, Americans report receiving texts ordering them to sign up for a military draft, and more!

Snopes Staff

Published 8 January 2020

Climate scientists and fire experts are saying climate change played a role in the severity of the wildfire crisis now afflicting parts of Australia, an assertion that hasn’t gone down well with global warming deniers.

The conspiracy theory website Infowars published an article pooh-poohing any climate change connection and blaming the conflagration instead on a wave of arson across Australia. The website went so far as to claim that nearly 200 people were arrested for “deliberately starting bushfires,” a statistic that doesn’t match information put out by the regional police.

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