Other existential risks include the decline of natural resources (particularly water), human population growth beyond the Earth’s carrying capacity, and nuclear weapons.
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Articles on bushfires 2020
Displaying 21 - 40 of 75 articles
With a bit of sensible planning, you can retain plants close to your home without creating a huge bushfire risk.
Long before a fire season that destroyed 3,500 homes, more than 100,000 Australians were homeless. If only we showed the same urgency and innovation in housing them as we did for bushfire victims.
Earth-covered houses are not only highly fire-resistant, but sustainable features such as off-grid power and water supplies could also be life-saving in a bushfire.
Low-income earners, small-business owners and part-time workers are most likely to lose income following a disaster.
Some threatened species hit hard by the bushfires this summer have populations in and around urban areas, which are now crucial refuges. Here are some tips to help improve their odds of survival.
It's important to remember that most of this greening is due to growth of grasses, which respond more rapidly after rain.
Australia's tourism sector has been hit hard by bushfires and coronavirus. The are good reasons to think it may take a lot longer than in the past for the numbers to bounce back.
In NSW, honeybees are listed as a key threatening process to biodiversity.
A scientist whose Kangaroo Island home was threatened by the summer's bushfires says there is a 'knowledge gap' between satellite data and useful maps that can protect communities.
Most of us are familiar with the concept of psychological trauma. But what is collective trauma, and how can we tackle it in the wake of the bushfire crisis?
Both natural disasters and electric vehicles mean we need to move away from centralised electricity systems.
Small businesses are disproportionately affected by natural disasters. To improve community resilience, we need to help them 'build back better'.
Plants can store mercury and keep it from contaminating waterways, air and soils. Unfortunately, that mercury is released when plants burn.
People die protecting homes. They are wrong to believe their homes will protect them.
Australia can learn from how India used community hubs to bridge the gap between government and local communities in the challenging years of reconstruction.
How can a bushfire be described as "under control" if it's still burning? Here's an explanation of what the terms mean.
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.
Universities can help students affected by the bushfires by learning from what others have done in past crises.
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.
Top contributors
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David Bowman is a Friend of The Conversation.Professor of Pyrogeography and Fire Science, University of Tasmania
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Professor, Centre for Environmental Risk Management of Bushfires, University of Wollongong
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Professor in Evolutionary Biology (jointly appointed with South Australian Museum), Flinders University
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Professor (conservation biology), Charles Darwin University
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Associate Professor, Bushfire Science, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University
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Research Fellow in Environmental Science, University of Tasmania
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Associate research scientist, University of Adelaide
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Journalist, author, broadcaster, Queensland University of Technology
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Professor, Australian National University
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Professor in Conservation Ecology, School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne
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Senior Research Fellow, Interdisciplinary Conservation Science Research Group, RMIT University
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Hon. Assoc. Prof., Fire Ecology and Management, University of Melbourne
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Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland
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Professor, The University of Queensland
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University of Adelaide
