We used satellite data to create global maps of where and how fires are burning. Fire season lasts two weeks longer than it used to and fires are more intense. But there are regional differences.
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Articles on Bushfires
Displaying 41 - 60 of 516 articles
Most fire climate regimes in Australia shifted abruptly around the year 2000 – greatly increasing fire risk.
Deserts in Australia burn – and burn big – if fuel is left to build up. But this year, Indigenous rangers across the deserts have burned huge tracts early to make Country healthier.
Public interest in climate change and global warming peaks after bushfires and lasts for months, research reveals. But Australians do not respond to storms and floods in the same way.
Fire frequency is increasing in all ecosystems studied. But in some places, fires were occurring so often it put entire ecosystems at risk of collapse.
As I hear reports of the fire tearing through Maui, I feel utterly depressed. As a fire scientist, I know the unfolding horror is just the beginning in our warmer world.
No one plans a European holiday thinking of fleeing from fire or sheltering from intense heat. But the climate crisis is forcing a reckoning – tourism as we knew it will have to change.
The El Niño is a reminder that bushfires are part of Australian life. But whether or not this fire season is a bad one, Australia must find a better way to manage bushfires.
Parents and emergency responders repeatedly said evacuation centres should have a separate space for families with very young children. Here’s what else we could do.
Before the colonists came, we managed the land with careful use of cool burns. To stop giant bushfires, we have to learn again how to care for country.
When the rainforests burned, the leaf litter did too – and with it, billions of invertebrates vital to healthy ecosystems.
Victoria’s native forests will be free from logging by the end of the year. That’s big news for our threatened species and fragmented forests
Satellite data and traditional know-how combined have drastically reduced fires across northern Australia over the past 20 years.
Until now, a limitation of records of past fires is that these have come from sediments laid down in lakes and bogs. Records for dryland regions have been lacking, but dune deposits can fill the gap.
Two decades of satellite data have allowed us to map fires across the country and identify areas facing high fire risks. Fire activity has increased in several major regions over the past decade.
Our foreign policy may need to deal with twin challenges brought about by climate change.
In one finding, fire authorities chose to save a few farm sheds over 5,000 hectares of national park. Clearly, our fire management needs a reset.
The Canberra fires showed even urban communities can be in danger if close enough to the bush.
But here’s why this seemingly unremarkable bird could save other, less obvious species from devastation.
Be prepared. Download an air quality app, stock up on respirators and stay inside if you can.
Top contributors
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Professor of Pyrogeography and Fire Science, University of Tasmania
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Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
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Professor, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University
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Professor in Ecology, Charles Sturt University
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Emeritus professor, University of Wollongong
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Senior research fellow, Western Sydney University
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ARC Centre of Excellence for the Weather of the 21st Century, Australian National University
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Associate Professor, School of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Newcastle
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Adjunct Senior Lecturer, School of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Newcastle
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Deputy Head of School, School of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Newcastle
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Research Fellow in Environmental Science, University of Tasmania
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Head of Operational Climate Services, Australian Bureau of Meteorology
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Professorial Research Fellow, Victoria University
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Climate scientist, Australian Bureau of Meteorology
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Professor of Bushfire Dynamics, School of Science, UNSW Canberra, UNSW Sydney
