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Displaying 120 of about 407 resultsA full suite of research papers has just been released looking at the broad question of liability for damage caused by sea level rise. The reports are the work of legal researcher Catherine Iorns (Victoria University of Wellington), whose Deep South Challenge project “Sea level rise, housing and insurance: Liability and compensation” aros…
By Nancy Cushing, Associate Professor at the University of Newcastle
Smoke from this season’s bushfires has turned the sun red, the moon orange and the sky an insipid grey. It has obscured iconic views tourists flock to see. Far more than an aesthetic problem, it has forced business shutdowns, triggered health problems and kept children indoors for wee…
By Nilesh Pawar in Taveuni
When Tropical Cyclone Winston struck Abhishek Sapra’s farm exactly four years ago, the damage was monumental. Sapra suffered losses of over $F500,000 (US$227,000).
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“In areas with tree cover, the kava was saved since the trees created natural windbreaks, branches that fell formed a protective blanket. But where there wer…
By Grant Williamson, et al.
As bushfires in New South Wales are finally contained, attention is turning to nature’s recovery. Green shoots are sprouting and animals are returning. But we must accept that in some cases, the bush may never return to its former state.
We’ve all read the devastating figures of destruction this fire season. More…
By Nicholas Biddle, et al.
Last month, the Australian National University contracted with the Social Research Centre (SRC) to survey more than 3,000 Australian adults about their experiences and attitudes related to the bushfires.
The study is the first of its kind to gauge how people were affected by the crisis and how it changed thei…
By Larissa Schneider, et al.
Climate change and bushfire may exacerbate recent mercury pollution and increase exposure to the poisonous neurotoxin, according to our study published in the Journal of Paleolimnology.
Mercury stored in plants is released during bushfires, suggesting Australia is particularly at risk.
Our study in the Venezuelan Andes ex…
Infrastructure Australia today released the latest edition of the Infrastructure Priority List, presenting 147 infrastructure proposals of national significance – the largest number since the list’s inception.
Infrastructure Australia Chief Executive, Romilly Madew said the Infrastructure Priority List reflects both the diversity and urgency of ou…
Researchers at Western Sydney University’s Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment have analysed historic data on the extent of Australia’s extraordinary forest fires and found that the area burned in Australia during the 2019-2020 forest fires far exceeds historic records worldwide.
Even in previous major fire years, only around two per cent of Austr…
By Andrew King, University of Melbourne et al.
Recent helpful rains dampened fire grounds and gave many farmers a reason to cheer. But much of southeast Australia remains in severe drought.
Australia is no stranger to drought, but the current one stands out when looking at rainfall records over the past 120 years. This drought has been marke…
As part of amplified cooperation between Japan and Fiji, the assistance worth FJ$18 million (848 million Japanese Yen) has been provided to the Fijian Government by the Government of Japan through its Economic Social Development Programme (ESDP). The funding assistance will enable the procurement of tsunami early warning systems, a dredger and an ice pl…
By Mittul Vahanvati, Lecturer, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University
A key question facing us all after Australia’s unprecedented bushfires is how will we do reconstruction differently? We need to ensure our rebuilding and recovery efforts make us safer, protect our environment and improve our ability to cope w…
By Sharon Zhang
This is not the first time that Australia has been devastatingly burned. More than ten years ago, in February 2009, fires in Australia killed 173 people, injured thousands more and destroyed 2,000 homes. The day of the February 2009 blaze, which became known as Black Saturday, constituted the country’s most deadly wildfire event in hist…
By Rod Keenan, Chris Weston, and Luba Volkova
Calls from industry and unions for increased thinning in forests to reduce bushfire risks have been met with concern from conservation scientists. They suggest forest thinning makes forests more fire prone.
So who’s right? Well, it’s complicated. The short answer is forest thinning is a good…
By Lisa Cox and Nick Evershed
At least 80% of the Blue Mountains world heritage area and more than 50% of the Gondwana world heritage rainforests have burned in Australia’s ongoing bushfire crisis.
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The scale of the disaster is such that it could affect the diversity of eucalypts for which the Blue Mountains world heritage area is recognised, said…
Extremely hot and dry weather in 2019 created the worst drought and fire conditions in many decades. Overall environmental condition was the poorest since at least 2000 and below- average in all states and territories.
The national Environmental Condition Score was at its lowest since at least 2000, decreasing 2.3 points out of ten to a score of 0.8. S…