Eric Kerr, National University of Singapore and Malini Sur, Western Sydney University
When a bushfire burns is one country, smoke drift means it can become the world’s problem. But the law lacks the teeth to hold those responsible to account.
When bushfires break out anywhere across Australia, a new national bushfire defence force – like army reservists – could be deployed.
AAP/DFES Lewis van Bommel
There is a real risk a national inquiry could get bogged down in politics, or not lead to real change. But we need more federal action on bushfires. Our old approaches are broken.
Canberra’s hazardous air quality forced its universities to close campuses.
LUKAS COCH/AAP
Universities can help students affected by the bushfires by learning from what others have done in past crises.
About 195,000 Australians volunteer with the nation’s bushfire services. The NSW Rural Fire Service is the biggest, with more than 71,000 volunteers.
Dan Himbrechts/AAP
Australia’s rural firefighting organisations hold a special place in the nation’s heart. Part of what makes them so interesting is how they are organised and funded.
The United Nations predicts the world will be home to nearly 10 billion people by 2050 – making global greenhouse emission cuts ever more urgent.
NASA/Joshua Stevens
To be clear, I’m not advocating compulsory population control, here or anywhere. But we do need to consider a future with billions more people, many of them aspiring to live as Australians do now.
Young people, like teen activist Izzy Raj-Seppings, have directly participated in prevention and emergency relief efforts this bushfire season.
Joel Carrett/AAP
One problem with the Australian Curriculum bushfire content statements is that they are relatively abstract and detached from children’s lived experiences.
Eucalypt seeds don’t fall far from the tree, meaning repopulating large areas of forest will be difficult.
from www.shutterstock.com
The destruction of recent fires is challenging our belief that with enough time, love and money, every threatened species can be saved. But there is plenty we can, and must, now do.
Many students’ lives have changed as they return to school, even those not directly affected by the fires.
JAMES GOURLEY/AAP
Rachael Jacobs, Western Sydney University and Carol Mutch, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Some students are grieving the loss of their homes or loved ones. Even those not directly affected by fires may be distressed by stories they’ve heard or images they’ve seen. How can schools help?
Three North American little brown bats with signs of white-nose syndrome, which is virtually certain to hit Australian bats without further action.
KDFWR/Terry Derting
It’s been a deadly summer for Australia’s wildlife. But beyond the fires, we need to act now to protect bats – which make up a quarter of Australian mammal species – from a silent overseas killer.
Prescribed burning in thinned silver top ash forest. Forest thinning should be one way we tackle fire management and forest resilience, but we need more research to understand the best way to go about it.
Chris Weston
While the bushfire crisis might provoke a sense of urgency to rebuild, we need to stop and properly plan where and how we construct buildings and open spaces.
Regrowth is beginning, but the intangible costs will linger for decades if not generations.
Joel Carrett/AAP
There have been scores of scams reported in Australia since the bushfires started in September. This is why fraudsters take advantage of those in need.
Firefighters in Kangaroo Island, South Australia. First responders’ experiences on the front line make them susceptible to post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health problems.
David Mariuz/AAP
Emergency service workers already have poorer mental health than the rest of us. In the wake of this bushfire crisis, we need to make the well-being of our first responders a top priority.
Bulbine lilies flowering and eucalypts resprouting after fire in the Victorian high country.
Heidi Zimmer
Many of the recommendations of previous inquiries and reviews have yet to be implemented. What we need is a better fire and land management strategy – not another royal commission.
The bushfire crisis is big enough to change the government’s emissions policy, but it swill need more.
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