Climate Council report suggests climate change fanned devastating bushfires

A new report which tallies the devastating impacts of the bushfires that ripped through NSW over summer says climate change made their impact worse.

The Eden timber mill wood chip pile burns on Ben Boyd Point, seen across Two Fold Bay from Eden, New South Wales. Source: AAP

The bushfires that tore through NSW scorched more land and destroyed more homes than any state fire season on record, a new report has found.

The Climate Council's Summer of Crisis report says climate change fanned the unprecedented impacts of Australia's recent bushfire crisis.

Former Fire and Rescue NSW commissioner Greg Mullins says the bushfires produced more greenhouse gases than Australia typically emits in a year.

Trees damaged by fire line the Princes Highway in Brogo, New South Wales. Source: AAP

"The data contained in this new report confirms what we all suspected," he said in a statement.

"The bushfire season was the worst on record for NSW in terms of the scale of the bushfires, the number of properties lost and the amount of area burned.

"Climate change fuelled the unprecedented fires."

More than 2,400 NSW homes were destroyed over the summer, almost ten times more than the previous worst season for bushfire property damage in NSW in 2013.

About 5.4 million hectares were scorched over summer, which is equivalent to more than six per cent of the total NSW land area.

The report also found the bushfires have taken a huge economic toll on Australia, with the tourism sector predicted to have lost more than $4 billion.

Dry River in Quaama, New South Wales, bares the scars of recent bushfires. Source: AAP

"The hot, dry conditions that fuelled these fires will continue to worsen without substantial, concerted action to rapidly phase out coal, oil and gas," the report read.

"Taking action now will provide a chance to stabilise, then eventually reduce disaster risks for future generations."