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.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Articles on bushfires 2020
Displaying 1 - 20 of 53 articles
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.
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.
One problem with the Australian Curriculum bushfire content statements is that they are relatively abstract and detached from children’s lived experiences.
Top contributors
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Professor of Pyrogeography and Fire Science, University of Tasmania
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Professor in Evolutionary Biology (jointly appointed with South Australian Museum), Flinders University
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Research Fellow in Environmental Science, University of Tasmania
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Journalist, author, broadcaster, Queensland University of Technology
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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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Professor, Centre for Environmental Risk Management of Bushfires, University of Wollongong
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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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Adjunct Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
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ARC Future Fellow and Professor of Environmental Management, The University of Queensland
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Professor of Conservation and Sustainable Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University
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Professor, The Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University
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Professor in Terrestrial Ecology, University of Sydney
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Head of Research
