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.
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.
The main street of Cobargo, NSW, Wednesday, January 1, 2020.
Sean Davey/AAP
Small businesses are disproportionately affected by natural disasters. To improve community resilience, we need to help them ‘build back better’.
Rather than mandating the building of houses that are less likely to burn down, we should be mandating the provision of good shelters.
ANDREW BROWNBILL/AAP
Australia can learn from how India used community hubs to bridge the gap between government and local communities in the challenging years of reconstruction.
We’re used to images of firefighters with hoses, but more of the firefighting effort goes to clearing vegetation than spraying with water.
Dean Lewins/AAP
How can a bushfire be described as “under control” if it’s still burning? Here’s an explanation of what the terms mean.
When bushfires break out anywhere across Australia, a new national bushfire defence force – like army reservists – could be deployed.
AAP/DFES Lewis van Bommel
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.
About 195,000 Australians volunteer with the nation’s bushfire services. The NSW Rural Fire Service is the biggest, with more than 71,000 volunteers.
Dan Himbrechts/AAP
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.
The United Nations predicts the world will be home to nearly 10 billion people by 2050 – making global greenhouse emission cuts ever more urgent.
NASA/Joshua Stevens
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.
Glossy black cockatoo populations on Kangaroo Island have been decimated. But a few precious survivors remain.
Flickr
The destruction of recent fires is challenging our belief that with enough time, love and money, every threatened species can be saved. But there is plenty we can, and must, now do.
Actor Russell Crowe, who lives in Nana Glen, in northeast New South Wales, with neighbours. The area was hit by bushfires in early November 2019.
Russell Crowe/Twitter
An old political maxim is to ‘never waste a crisis’, but sometimes a crisis isn’t enough.
Remains of a burnt-out property at Bruthen South, Victoria. Only analysing the reasons buildings were destroyed will tell us if building codes need to be reformed.
James Ross/AAP
If the aim is to minimise the number of buildings damaged or destroyed in extreme fire events, Australia’s building regulations are clearly inadequate. But that’s not their aim.
Throughout history, Australian bushfires have spread smoke over our cities. But this time it’s different.
David Mariuz/AAP
This is not the first time Australia’s major cities have been shrouded in bushfire smoke. But this time, the culprits must held to account.
A targeted, coordinated online campaign has tried to mislead the public. While the myths have been debunked, the culpable parties remain unknown.
SEAN DAVEY/AAP
We found about 300 suspicious Twitter accounts, which we suspect included a high proportion of bots and trolls pushing the #ArsonEmergency narrative.
Comedian Celeste Barber’s fundraising efforts have gained monumental support. But we need to think of long-term engagement in climate action too.
Facebook
Celeste Barber’s $45 million fundraiser is amazing, but battling Australia’s fires should be an ongoing effort. With the help of social media, it can be.
A rural fire service crew attempts to protect a property in New South Wales in December 2019.
Dean Lewins/AAP Images via AP