Bushfire incidence in Australia is on the rise.

Bushfire incidence in Australia is on the rise.

The number of bushfires in Australia is on the rise - up 40 per cent since 2007 - local scientists have found.

In a new research paper, published on Wednesday in the journal Royal Society Open Science, scientists from CSIRO and University of Tasmania also say the increasing bushfire frequency indicates a major climatic shift - though the research does not directly ascribe the rise to human-caused global warming.

The research team studied NASA satellite data from 2007 to 2013 to determine the number of bushfires, to try and develop a system to forecast where they might breakout.

Read Tom Arup’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Australian bushfires on the rise, new research finds.”