Notwithstanding COVID, this political term has been framed by extreme events such as the Black Summer bushfires and floods – and it will show at the ballot box.
Tasmania’s drying climate is seeing more bushfires ignited by lightning strikes. To protect the state’s World Heritage wilderness, we must use sustainable fire management practices.
This score is a massive four points higher than the year prior. But as La Niña subsides, we’ll quickly feel the long-term warming trend again, with bushfires picking back up next season.
Disaster-affected communities form the backbone of any disaster response. But survivors are often underutilised in shaping plans for their community’s longer-term recovery and preparedness efforts.
Sean Blocksidge/PR Handout/WA Dept Fire and Emergency Services/AAP Image
Climate change threatens the crucial storage of carbon in Aussie forests. Victoria’s national parks alone store almost 1 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
Without changes, many birds will continue to decline or be lost altogether. But when conservation action is well resourced and implemented, we can turn the trend around.
Monjon, a small, native mammal in the tropical savanna under threat from fire.
David Bettini
Northern Australia’s tropical savanna is one of the most fire-prone regions on the planet. We need to change the way we manage fires so we can help native wildlife come back from the brink.
Forest fires in Australia are burning more land across more of the year than ever before, as climate-linked fire weather worsens.
Melizabeth Uhi, a school principal, stands in front of her destroyed home in Vanuatu, a week after Cyclone Pam tore through the South Pacific archipelago in 2015.
Nick Perry/AP
As climate change amplifies the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, evacuations are likely to become increasingly common and costly – in human and economic terms.