The NSW Bushfire and Natural Hazards Research Centre was established in January 2023 as an outcome of the 2020 NSW Independent Bushfire Inquiry.
The centre “unites researchers from partner universities with government agencies, frontline emergency services, Aboriginal people and community stakeholders in a collective effort to tackle the challenges posed by bushfires and other natural hazards”.
Two recent media articles have reported on research looking at the role of fire in tall, wet forests, and ‘long unburnt’ vegetation. These reports contribute to the ongoing discussion about the role of fire in the Australian environment and how fire can be managed with biodiversity conservation in mind.
Early in 2023 the CSIRO published an important new book: Australia’s Megafires – Biodiversity Impacts and Lessons from 2019-2020. With five author-editors and 190 scientific, management and expert contributors, this encyclopaedic work focuses on the impacts of the fires in south-east Australia.
The Victorian Alps is an area of unique biodiversity that evolved under specific climatic conditions resulting in unique Alpine habitats that are under extreme threat from the potential impacts of climate change.
Sometimes a popular publication might have more impact than formal inquiries. IBG member Lyndsay Holme has reviewed an important book for our blog: Bronwyn Adcock’s “Currowan: The story of a fire and a community during Australia’s worst summer” (Black Inc Books, 2021).
A major CSIRO study has found that forest fires in Australia have been getting bigger, and the main reason is human-caused climate change.
Two recent books- Currowan and Firestorm – offer important contributions to the bushfire discussion, but by very different authors and from quite different perspectives.
On 26 August the NSW Land and Environment Court handed down an historic ruling. Chief Justice of the Court Brian Preston found that the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has a duty to take serious action on greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. The case was mounted by Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action (BSCA), represented by the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO).
The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued its latest report on 9th August, with very bad news for bushfires in Australia. In a nutshell, the analysis finds that the conditions conducive to disastrous fires will get worse, even in the best case scenario. Australia has already heated more than the rest of the worldContinue reading “Australia gets stark warning from IPCC”
Independent Bushfire Group