The California fires are just the most recent in a series of major wildfires. Together, they suggest we need to look at alternative ways of living with fire.
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Articles on Fire
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Council’s approach to risk management has added insult to injury for the residents and businesses adjacent to the Mackintosh.
The same day all of New South Wales was declared in drought, the state’s Rural Fire Service issued its earliest ever total fire bans.
Put simply, it’s the outcome of a chemical reaction, which humans learned how to make some 400,000 years ago.
Desertification is a problem of global proportions. If action isn’t taken now, it will accelerate and fuel further migration and conflict.
How will important habitats recover from the wildfires which been blazing through moorland in northern England?
The dry arid conditions that come with a high CO2 atmospheres are the perfect tinderbox for wildfires.
Viewed by many as the most important architectural building in Scotland’s largest city, the Mackintosh has been devastated for the second time in four years.
Every autumn Victoria copes with smoke haze from planned burns that reduce bushfire risk, but a large part of that pollution actually comes from industrial logging activity.
Australia’s national obsession with prescribed burning won’t be enough to manage the growing risk of devastating bushfires.
What decisions can we make today to reduce the future risk of hazards like floods and fire? Particularly in a time of climate change, modelling various plausible futures helps us plan for uncertainty.
In 2013 a mild and dry winter led to some of the most destructive bushfires in NSW history. Now new modelling shows 2017 record-breaking winter warmth has created worryingly similar conditions.
Leaving early is the best response to a bushfire, but it’s not always possible. Every house is different, but there are some general guidelines for finding the safest spots to shelter in your home.
The Victorian government is auditing every recycling facility in the state after a disastrous fire at Coolaroo. It raises a bigger issue: we don’t know how many plants Australia has or where they are.
Italy, Portugal and Spain have all gone up in flames in recent weeks, highlighting the need to rethink how Mediterranean countries protect people and save ecosystems.
Despite the surge of community support after the Grenfell Tower fire, the failure of the local council and the government to respond appropriately has caused anger, offence and further suffering.
A lesson in taking from the rich to give to the poor.
We asked two experts to examine what the buildling regulations say.
Marginal people become resourceless, invisible to public policies, and disempowered in public life. This increases their vulnerability to disaster.
Fire has always affected poorer communities more; to understand why, public authorities need to get better at listening to the people they serve.
Top contributors
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Professor of Pyrogeography and Fire Science, University of Tasmania
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Emeritus professor, University of Wollongong
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Earth and paleo-climate scientist, Australian National University
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Professor, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University
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Distinguished Research Professor and Australian Laureate, James Cook University
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Professor, The Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University
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Professor, Deakin Law School, Deakin University
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Professor, Charles Darwin University
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Future Fire Risk Analyst, The University of Melbourne
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Professor of Science Communication and Chemistry, University of Hull
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Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Environmental Risk Management of Bushfires, University of Wollongong
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Senior Lecturer in Ecology, The University of Melbourne
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Senior research fellow, Western Sydney University
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Professor of Geography and Director of the Centre for Wildfire Research, Swansea University
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Postdoctoral researcher, University of Tasmania
