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15,000 squares, 500 hours, 19 months: how I used embroidery to make sense of Australia’s catastrophic fires

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tracey-clement-1518268">Tracey Clement</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-catholic-university-747">Australian Catholic University</a> I slip the needle through a small loop of black thread, pull it tight and snip. Done. I have just tied off the very last stitch on an embroidered scroll that has taken me more than 500 hours across 19 months to complete. All of my artwork is extremely labour-intensive. But I have to admit, this is a bit excessive, even for me. It’s not surprising that I have been asked more than once “why not just outsource the labour?” and even “what is the point?” I always sigh and think enviously of plumbers. I am 100% sure hardworking tradies are never asked to justify the point of their work. Why do I work so hard? There is no one easy answer, it’s different every time. The labour intensity of my processes adds time into the equation and this both carries meaning and can change the meaning of the work as it goes on (and on and on). I always learn something unexpected. <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/590597/original/file-20240426-17-sg7esy.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/590597/original/file-20240426-17-sg7esy.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/590597/original/file-20240426-17-sg7esy.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590597/original/file-20240426-17-sg7esy.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590597/original/file-20240426-17-sg7esy.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590597/original/file-20240426-17-sg7esy.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590597/original/file-20240426-17-sg7esy.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590597/original/file-20240426-17-sg7esy.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="A finger points to a knot on the back of a messy abstract embroidery done in black, red, orange and yellow" /></a><figcaption>The last stitch! Tracey Clement</figcaption></figure> I put my little scissors down and, before busting out the bubbles, I snap a picture for Instagram because #selfpromotion, but also because this is news, albeit of a very slow-breaking kind. This is what I’ve learned after stitching for seemingly endless hours: while no news may be good news, “slow news” is even better. My embroidered scroll is titled Impossible Numbers. It started as my attempt to memorialise <a href="https://wwf.org.au/what-we-do/australian-bushfires/in-depth-australian-bushfires">the estimated 3,000,000,000 non-human lives lost</a> in the devastating bushfires of 2019–20, a number impossible to actually comprehend. <h2>Doomscrolling an emergency</h2> During that long and awful summer Sydney was often shrouded in an eerie orange haze. You could smell smoke. Ash fell. But, like many Australians, I experienced the worst of it by <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/doomscrolling">doomscrolling</a> fast news. I was both horrified and fascinated by images of fires so huge and hot they generated their own weather, by pictures of houses reduced to smoking skeletal outlines that somehow remained standing, by headlines comparing the fires to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/dec/31/mallacoota-fire-mayhem-armageddon-bushfires-rage-victoria-east-gippsland">armageddon</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/oct/30/australia-must-prepare-for-future-shaped-by-extreme-climate-bushfire-royal-commission-report-warns">the apocalypse</a>. This hyperbolic language implies we are locked in a war of good versus evil. Even headlines in the vein of “Firefighters battle blazes” pit us (people) against them (the forces of nature). And in the heat of the moment the language of war feels right. <a href="https://traceyclement.com/2020/04/21/apocalypse-now">I’ve succumbed to it myself</a>. But it is dangerous. This language reinforces the idea we can dominate nature; it frames the fires as a conflict that we can end by winning. <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/590572/original/file-20240426-21-7mbf5w.JPG?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/590572/original/file-20240426-21-7mbf5w.JPG?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/590572/original/file-20240426-21-7mbf5w.JPG?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1432&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590572/original/file-20240426-21-7mbf5w.JPG?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590572/original/file-20240426-21-7mbf5w.JPG?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1432&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590572/original/file-20240426-21-7mbf5w.JPG?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1800&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590572/original/file-20240426-21-7mbf5w.JPG?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590572/original/file-20240426-21-7mbf5w.JPG?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1800&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="A hand holds a phone taking a picture of a long abstract embroidery in black, red, orange and yellow." /></a><figcaption>Viewing the world through the phone. Tracey Clement</figcaption></figure> I will admit watching a goat-toting woman <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-03/scott-morrison-got-bushfire-welcome-he-deserved-says-liberal-mp/11838476">berate a sitting prime minister</a> left me with a short-lived, but mildly satisfying, feeling of shared righteous indignation. But mostly doomscrolling just fuelled my sorrow and left me feeling impotent as, inevitably, the fast news cycled on to the next crisis (and the next, and the next). <h2>Slowing it down</h2> In October 2022, I finally stopped trying to process the bushfires, and all their terrifying implications, through the fast-news language of war. I picked up a needle instead. Of course 3,000,000,000 stitches would be too many, even for me, so I decided to stitch a grid of some 15,000 squares, which I filled with innumerable stitches – a nod to the endless stream of pixels that usually deliver our news. I started wanting to honour the 3 billion dead, that impossible number, but after months of stitching I realised I was “writing” a kind of slow-news story. It may sound ridiculous, but this tactic has been used before. The <a href="https://www.bayeuxmuseum.com/en/the-bayeux-tapestry">Bayeux Tapestry</a> is a slow-news story that documents the Norman conquest of England through embroidery. It took years to stitch, and some 950 years later it is still in circulation. As an alternative to doomscrolling easily digestible fast-news stories of good triumphing (or not) over evil, I have created an actual fabric scroll which depicts a stylised firestorm building in intensity until it becomes all-consuming. <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/590574/original/file-20240426-16-lk14qm.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/590574/original/file-20240426-16-lk14qm.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/590574/original/file-20240426-16-lk14qm.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=799&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590574/original/file-20240426-16-lk14qm.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=799&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590574/original/file-20240426-16-lk14qm.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=799&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590574/original/file-20240426-16-lk14qm.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1004&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590574/original/file-20240426-16-lk14qm.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1004&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/590574/original/file-20240426-16-lk14qm.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1004&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="A middle-aged white woman peeks out from behind a very long abstract embroidery in black, red, orange and yellow." /></a><figcaption>The artist with Impossible Numbers. Tracey Clement</figcaption></figure> Despite mimicking pixels, Impossible Numbers is resolutely handmade. It is too messy, too crude, to be anything else. It is bleedingly obvious (and there was blood) the will of a person is inextricably stitched into this image of devastating fire. Human labour is literally entangled in this artwork; it shows us as part of the picture, part of nature. And this is good news Impossible Numbers doesn’t have a victorious ending, or any ending at all. The scroll is not fully unrolled. There is no end in sight: the story isn’t over, it’s ongoing. In this way it points to the future; a future in which we are not fighting nature. And this is good news too. If you don’t have a spare 500 hours to process the news into slow news, don’t worry. By the time I finally tied my last knot, I found I had transformed my fear and rage into something tangible, something both magnificent and beautiful (if I do say so myself), no longer about me. It is now a slow-news story that is no longer about a particular event; something everyone can share. This is why I do the work. Impossible Numbers is on display as part of <a href="https://www.casulapowerhouse.com/prizes/the-blake-art-prize">The Blake Prize</a> at the Casula Powerhouse, Sydney, until July 7. <hr /> This article is part of <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/making-art-work-126611">Making Art Work</a>, our series on what inspires artists and the process of their work.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/227907/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tracey-clement-1518268">Tracey Clement</a>, Lecturer in Visual Art and McGlade Gallery Director, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-catholic-university-747">Australian Catholic University</a> Image credits: Instagram This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/15-000-squares-500-hours-19-months-how-i-used-embroidery-to-make-sense-of-australias-catastrophic-fires-227907">original article</a>. </div>

Art

3 ways to prepare for bushfire season if you have asthma or another lung condition

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kazi-mizanur-rahman-1057615">Kazi Mizanur Rahman</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/bond-university-863">Bond University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/joe-duncan-1472949">Joe Duncan</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jo-longman-1221029">Jo Longman</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a> Australia’s bushfire season is officially <a href="https://www.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/fire-season-commences">under way</a> during an <a href="https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/what-the-return-of-el-nino-means/">El Niño</a>. And after three wet years, and the <a href="https://www.afac.com.au/auxiliary/publications/newsletter/article/seasonal-bushfire-outlook-spring-2023#:%7E:text=For%20spring%202023%2C%20increased%20risk,bushfire%20this%20season%20are%20widespread">plant growth</a> that comes with it, there’s fuel to burn. With the prospect of <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-official-australia-is-set-for-a-hot-dry-el-nino-heres-what-that-means-for-our-flammable-continent-209126">catastrophic bushfire</a> comes smoke. This not only affects people in bushfire regions, but those <a href="https://theconversation.com/bushfire-smoke-is-everywhere-in-our-cities-heres-exactly-what-you-are-inhaling-129772">in cities and towns</a> far away, as smoke travels. People with a <a href="https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/10.1164/rccm.202012-4471LE">lung condition</a> are among those especially affected. <h2>What’s so dangerous about bushfire smoke?</h2> Bushfire smoke <a href="https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/environment/air/Pages/common-air-pollutants.aspx">pollutes the air</a> we breathe by increasing the concentration of particulate matter (or PM). Once inhaled, <a href="https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/environment/air/Pages/particulate-matter.aspx">small particles</a> (especially with a diameter of 2.5 micrometres or less, known as PM2.5) can get deep into the lungs and into the bloodstream. Concentration of gases in the air – such as <a href="https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/environment/air/Pages/ozone.aspx">ozone</a>, <a href="https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/environment/air/Pages/nitrogen-dioxide.aspx">nitrogen dioxide</a> and <a href="https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/environment/air/Pages/sulphur-dioxide.aspx">sulfur dioxide</a> – also increase, to pollute the air. All these cause the airway to <a href="https://www.alfredhealth.org.au/news/the-effects-of-bushfire-smoke-explained/">narrow and spasm</a>, making it hard to breathe. This can be even worse for people with existing asthma or other respiratory conditions whose airways are already inflamed. Emergency department visits and hospital admissions for asthma-related symptoms <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935119305742?dgcid=author">rise</a> <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33601224/">after exposure</a> to bushfire smoke. Smoke from the bushfires in summer 2019/20 <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/system/files/issues/213_06/mja250545.pdf">resulted in</a> an estimated 400 deaths or more from any cause, more than 1,300 emergency department visits for asthma symptoms, and more than 2,000 hospital admissions for respiratory issues. Even if symptoms are not serious enough to warrant emergency medical attention, exposure to bushfire smoke <a href="https://www.qld.gov.au/health/staying-healthy/environmental/after-a-disaster/bushfires/bushfire-smoke-and-your-health#:%7E:text=Signs%20of%20smoke%20irritation%20include,throat%2C%20runny%20nose%20and%20coughing">can lead to</a> cough, nasal congestion, wheezing and asthma flares. If you have <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-causes-asthma-what-we-know-dont-know-and-suspect-96409">asthma</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease-25539">chronic obstructive pulmonary disease</a>, <a href="https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/bronchiectasis#:%7E:text=Bronchiectasis%20is%20a%20condition%20that,These%20tubes%20are%20called%20airways.">bronchiectasis</a> or another lung condition, or you care for someone who has, here’s what you can do to prepare for the season ahead. <h2>1. Avoid smoke</h2> Monitor your local air quality by downloading one or both of these apps: <ul> <li> <a href="https://asthma.org.au/what-we-do/current-projects/airsmart/">AirSmart</a> from Asthma Australia has live air-quality information to help you plan and act </li> <li> <a href="https://airrater.org/">AirRater</a>, developed by Australian scientists, can be another useful app to monitor your environment, track your symptoms and help manage your health. </li> </ul> During times of poor air quality and smoke stay indoors and avoid smoke exposure. Close windows and doors, and if you have one, use an air conditioner to recirculate the air. Avoid unnecessary <a href="https://28bysamwood.com/blog/fitness/should-you-exercise-if-its-smoky-outside/">physical activity</a> which makes us breathe more to deliver more oxygen to the body, but also means we inhale more polluted air. Consider temporarily moving to a safer residence. Well-fitting N95/P2 masks can reduce your exposure to fine smoke particles if you must travel. However they can make it more difficult to breathe if you are unwell. In that case, you may find a mask with a valve <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-protect-yourself-against-bushfire-smoke-this-summer-154720">more comfortable</a>. <h2>2. Have an action plan</h2> Taking your regular preventer medication ensures your lung health is optimised before the danger period. Ensure you have a <a href="https://www.nationalasthma.org.au/health-professionals/asthma-action-plans">written action plan</a>. This provides you with clear instructions on how to take early actions to prevent symptoms deteriorating or to reduce the severity of flare-ups. Review this plan with your GP, share it with a family member, pin it to the fridge. Make sure you have emergency medication available, know when to call for help, and what medication to take while you wait. You may consider storing an emergency “reliever puffer” in your home or with a neighbour. <h2>3. Have the right equipment</h2> High-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters <a href="https://www.phrp.com.au/issues/online-early/residential-indoor-air-quality-and-hepa-cleaner-use/">can reduce</a> smoke exposure inside the home during a fire event by 30-74%. These filters remove particulate matter from the air. A spacer, which is a small chamber to contain inhaled medication, can help you take emergency medication if you are breathing quickly. You may want to have one to hand.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214065/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kazi-mizanur-rahman-1057615">Kazi Mizanur Rahman</a>, Associate Professor of Healthcare Innovations, Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/bond-university-863">Bond University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/joe-duncan-1472949">Joe Duncan</a>, Clinical Associate Lecturer, Northern Clinical School and Lecturer, Internal Medicine. Rural Clinical School (Northern Rivers), <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jo-longman-1221029">Jo Longman</a>, Senior Research Fellow, The University Centre for Rural Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/3-ways-to-prepare-for-bushfire-season-if-you-have-asthma-or-another-lung-condition-214065">original article</a>.

Body

Fast-moving bushfire threatens Australia Zoo

Australia is no stranger to bushfires, and once again, the country finds itself in the throes of a dangerous blaze. Evacuation warnings have been issued as a bushfire inches dangerously close to the boundary of the beloved Australia Zoo, operated by the Irwin family. The zoo, famous for its conservation efforts and charismatic wildlife, spans an impressive 283 hectares and holds a special place in the hearts of many. The blaze, described as a "large, fast-moving fire", had triggered initial evacuations on Saturday night. However, by 10:30pm, locals were allowed to return home as firefighting efforts temporarily contained the blaze. But the respite was short-lived. The situation escalated, and on Sunday, evacuation orders were issued once more. Firefighters have been working tirelessly to control the blaze, but the threat remains. The fire, as of 5pm on Sunday, was at the "watch and act" level and was steadily advancing toward Hardwood Rd. Residents in the vicinity, specifically those between Steve Irwin Way, Graham Drive, Fraser Rd, and Hardwood Rd, have been urged to be prepared to leave at a moment's notice. The Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) emphasised that residents should not expect firefighters to arrive at their doors, as resources are stretched thin. The bushfire near Australia Zoo is not an isolated incident; it is part of a larger crisis that has seen multiple fires raging across Queensland. More than 20,000 hectares of land and 41 homes have been lost near Tara on the Western Downs. Exhausted residents in Landsborough, on the Sunshine Coast, had to evacuate for the second time in as many days as conditions worsened. These repeated evacuations underscore the volatile and unpredictable nature of bushfires. Firefighters are racing against time as they brace for worsening conditions this week, with scorching temperatures forecast. Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Inspector Ross Stacey has warned that Tuesday does not look promising, and they are aware that fires can start rapidly under certain conditions. The local crews have been working non-stop, with reinforcements arriving from interstate and across Queensland. The need for vigilance and preparedness is paramount. The fires have already taken a heavy toll, with more than 70 structures, including 41 homes and 25 sheds, lost over the past week. The tireless efforts of over 70 firefighters and two water bombing helicopters were needed to prevent the blaze from engulfing homes on the outskirts of Landsborough. The fire, which broke out in the forestry outside the town, threatened the iconic Australia Zoo, coming within less than a kilometre of the cherished institution. Authorities remain in close contact with the zoo's staff to keep them informed and ensure the safety of the animals. A fire ban is currently in place for several regions, underlining the heightened fire risk. Image: Australia Zoo / QFES

News

New bushfire map reveals areas of greater risk to homes

Australia is rapidly transitioning to drier conditions after a three-year spell of wet weather. And with this shift comes a significantly heightened risk of spring bushfires, potentially leading to an earlier onset of the fire danger period across the eastern coast of the country. The offical <a href="https://www.afac.com.au/auxiliary/publications/newsletter/article/seasonal-bushfire-outlook-spring-2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bushfire outlook for spring 2023</a>, released by the country's fire chiefs, underscores the increased vulnerability of substantial areas in the Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales, and to a lesser extent, Victoria and South Australia. The prevailing concern revolves around the emergence of fast-spreading grassfires, fuelled by the remarkable growth spurred by three years of relatively moist La Niña conditions. Another alarming aspect is the potential threat to bushland that remained untouched by the devastating Black Summer fires in 2019 and 2020. Rob Rogers, Commissioner of the NSW Rural Fire Service, has conceded that the approaching fire season will be a challenging one. He anticipates an above-average fire threat for the spring season from the Queensland border down to areas south of Sydney, including the Blue Mountains. Some regions within the state are covered in dense, one-metre-tall grass that is ripe for ignition. Rogers also emphasised in a press conference that “There’s also a strip along the coast both in the north and in the far south coast in Bega — areas that didn’t burn in 2019-2020. All of those areas we’re quite concerned about... While it’s correct that we’re not as dry as we were in 2019-2020, some areas in the north and the south, on the coastal areas, are already staring to experience drought conditions.” These same conditions are echoed in Queensland, where the fire risk extends from the NSW border northwards towards Cairns and across the western regions. The Northern Territory and southern areas of Darwin have also not been spared from the elevated threat due to the vigorous growth of invasive gamba grass, fuelled by years of abundant rainfall. Greg Leach, Commissioner of Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, cautions that the state is grappling with high fuel loads amplified by below-average rainfall over the past six months. He stresses the importance of developing a comprehensive bushfire plan. In the Northern Territory, authorities express confidence in the protective buffer created by early-season controlled burns in regions south of Darwin and north of Katherine. However, Deputy Chief Commissioner Stephen Sewell bluntly advises against relying solely on rural or remote assistance, emphasising the need for every individual in the territory to have a survival strategy. Victorians are bracing for a warmer and drier spring than usual, heightening the risk of fires and possibly prompting an earlier commencement of the danger period. Gippsland and the Mallee region face particular concern due to their rapid desiccation. The Bureau of Meteorology predicts drier and warmer conditions nationwide in spring, with a possibility of unusual warmth in most areas and exceptionally dry conditions in parts of southern and eastern Australia. Naomi Benger from the bureau warns that these conditions could rapidly parch vegetation, potentially escalating fire dangers in a short span. Despite the country not being as parched as it was prior to the devastating Black Summer fires, authorities stress that we don't need those exact conditions for a genuine and imminent danger to exist. The resounding call to all of Australia is to get ready. “We need the community to do their part and make sure they plan for their survival, knowing whether they are going to stay and defend, or whether they are going to leave. And if they are going to leave, where are they going to go? Make sure all members of your family understand that,” Rogers concluded. Image: AFAC

Home & Garden

It’s official: Australia is set for a hot, dry El Niño. Here’s what that means for our flammable continent

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kevin-tolhurst-am-184">Kevin Tolhurst AM</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a> An El Niño event has <a href="https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/world-meteorological-organization-declares-onset-of-el-ni%C3%B1o-conditions">arrived</a>, according to the World Meteorological Organization, raising fears of record high global temperatures, extreme weather and, in Australia, a severe fire season. The El Niño is a reminder that bushfires are part of Australian life – especially as human-caused global warming worsens. But there are a few important considerations to note. First, <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/updates/articles/a008-el-nino-and-australia.shtml">not all</a> El Niño years result in bad bushfires. The presence of an El Niño is only one factor that determines the prevalence of bushfires. Other factors, such as the presence of drought, also come into play. And second, whether or not this fire season is a bad one, Australia must find a more sustainable and effective way to manage bushfires. The El Niño threat only makes the task more urgent. <h2>Understanding fire in Australia</h2> An El Niño is <a href="https://www.climate.gov/news-features/blogs/june-2023-enso-update-el-ni%C3%B1o-here">declared</a> when the sea surface temperature in large parts of the tropical Pacific Ocean warms significantly. The <a href="https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/world-meteorological-organization-declares-onset-of-el-ni%C3%B1o-conditions">statement</a> by the World Meteorological Organization, released on Tuesday, said El Niño conditions have developed in the tropical Pacific for the first time in seven years “setting the stage for a likely surge in global temperatures and disruptive weather and climate patterns”. The organisation says there’s a 90% probability of the El Niño event continuing during the second half of 2023. It said El Niño can trigger extreme heat and also cause severe droughts over Australia and other parts of the world. But before we start planning ahead for the next bushfire season, it’s important to understand what drives bushfire risks – and the influence of climate change, fire management and events such as El Niño. The evidence for human-induced climate change is <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-cycle/">irrefutable</a>. While the global climate has changed significantly <a href="https://theconversation.com/while-we-fixate-on-coronavirus-earth-is-hurtling-towards-a-catastrophe-worse-than-the-dinosaur-extinction-130869">in the past</a>, the current changes are occurring at an unprecedented rate. In geologic time scales, before the influence of humans, a significant <a href="https://publications.csiro.au/rpr/pub?list=BRO&pid=procite:13c02405-e8c6-466c-a400-f6137710a651">shift</a> in climate has been <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/book/6836/">associated</a> with an increase in fire activity in Australia. There is every reason to expect fire activity will increase with human-induced climate change as well. Humans have also changed the Australian fire landscape – both First Nations people and, for the past 200 years, European colonisers. Changes brought about by Indigenous Australians were widespread, but <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32378038/">sustainable</a>. Their methods included, for example, lighting “cool” fires in small, targeted patches early in the dry season. This reduced the chance that very large and intense fires would develop. Changes brought about by European colonisers have also been widespread – such as land clearing using fire, and fire suppression to protect human life and property. But this approach has been <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/30388718_National_Inquiry_on_Bushfire_Mitigation_and_Management">far from sustainable</a>, either financially, ecologically or socially. Australia has just experienced a period of high rainfall across the continent due to a La Niña event <a href="https://climateextremes.org.au/large-scale-climate-drivers-in-australia-2022/#:%7E:text=The%20combined%20influence%20of%20a,in%20123%20years%20of%20records.">combined with</a> two other climate drivers: a negative Indian Ocean Dipole and a positive Southern Annular Mode. It means the soil is moist and plants are flourishing. Now, we’re set to enter into a drying period driven by an El Niño. The abundant plant growth leading into a dry period is likely to result in widespread bushfires across Australia. Initially, this is <a href="https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/resources/bushfire-new-south-wales-1974/">likely to occur</a> in semi-arid inland areas where grasses have flourished in the wet period, but will dry out quickly. If the drying cycle persists for two or three years, then fires might become more prevalent in forests and woodlands in temperate Australia. But an El Niño year doesn’t necessarily mean a bad bushfire season is certain. In Australia, El Niño events are associated with hotter and drier conditions, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263018552_Multi-decadal_variability_of_forest_fire_risk_-_Eastern_Australia">leading to more days</a> of high fire danger. But large and severe forest fires also need a prolonged drought to dry out fuels, especially in sheltered gullies and slopes. Soils and woody vegetation are currently moist following the La Niña period. So El Niño and its opposite phase, La Niña, are on their own are a relatively <a href="https://research.monash.edu/en/publications/forecasting-fire-activity-in-victoria-australia-using-antecedent-">poor predictor</a> of the number and size of bushfires. <h2>Fight smarter, and be prepared</h2> Climate change will continue to test our fire management systems. And the return of an El Niño has fire crews <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/10/australia-firefighters-fire-crews-prepare-for-return-of-el-nino-bushfire-season-smoke-hazard-reduction-burns">on alert</a>. When it comes to fire management, Australia must be much smarter than it has been for the past 200 years. This means changing the focus to holistic fire management. Throwing huge amounts of money and resources at controlling bushfires – such as <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7034300/govt-vows-to-get-more-firefighting-aircraft/">purchasing more</a> and larger <a href="https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/new-weapon-to-fight-aussie-bushfires-kicks-off-service-in-wa/news-story/fa66e567e336164723cae8b98bb3ba8d">firefighting aircraft</a> – is is not sustainable or sensible. Fire is as fundamental to our environment as wind and rain. And the amount of energy released from a large bushfire will never be matched by any level of resources humans can muster. The evidence bears this out. Take, for example, <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/wf/WF9970221">analysis</a> of fire dynamics in two areas north and south of the US-Mexico border. Between 1920 and 1972, authorities on the US side had spent hundreds of millions of dollars on firefighting aircraft and other resources trying to suppress wildfires. This resulted in fewer wildfires than in the Mexico region. But the fires that occurred were larger and more severe. Similar patterns have occurred in Australia. For example, a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284776990_Evidence_of_altered_fire_regimes_in_the_Western_Desert_regime_of_Australia">study</a> of burn patterns in the Western Desert region showed that after the exodus of Traditional Owners, the number of fires reduced substantially, but the fires became far bigger. <h2>Change must happen</h2> Damaging bushfires will return to Australia in the near future. The expected return of another El Niño should heighten efforts to create a more considered and sustainable fire management regime – particularly in southern Australia. Experts, including me, have <a href="https://www.forestry.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Final-KPI-Document-v2.pdf">devised</a> <a href="https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/media/4935/nationalbushfiremanagementpolicy_2014.pdf">plans</a> to guide the shift. They include: <ul> <li>effectively managing the land with fire, including promoting Indigenous Australians’ use of fire</li> <li>engaging communities in bushfire mitigation and management</li> <li>better coordination across land, fire and emergency management agencies</li> <li>ensuring fire management is based on “best practice” approaches.</li> </ul> Australia, with its wealth of scientific knowledge and long history of Indigenous land management, should be well placed to manage fire sustainably – even with the pressures of climate change. Changing our approach will not be quick or simple, but it must be done.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209126/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kevin-tolhurst-am-184">Kevin Tolhurst AM</a>, Hon. Assoc. Prof., Fire Ecology and Management, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-official-australia-is-set-for-a-hot-dry-el-nino-heres-what-that-means-for-our-flammable-continent-209126">original article</a>.

Domestic Travel

Climate scientist warns a deadly bushfire season is "likely"

An early climate model has suggested a hot and dry El Niño could form once La Niña - the event responsible for three years of flooding rains - comes to a slow close. Should this be on the horizon, a summer of drought, heatwaves and bushfires are all but certain according to a climate expert. The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) released its latest climate driver update on Thursday, stating ocean temperatures "remain warmer than average in the western Pacific". Models indicate sea-surface temperatures may exceed El Niño thresholds in the equatorial Pacific by June. Dr Wenju Cai, a climate scientist with the CSIRO, said an El Niño is "likely" to form. "We have been through three years of La Niña, during each of which heat is stored in the equatorial Pacific," he told 9News.com.au. "With so much heat charged in the equatorial Pacific, an El Niño is readily triggered by relaxation of the trade winds over the region." "(The) majority of prediction models are predicting an El Niño by the summer.” After extreme wet weather conditions and soaking rains, Cai holds fears for the next bushfire season - warning it could recall the grim scenes of Black Summer of 2019 and early 2020. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says heatwaves are among the most dangerous of natural hazards. Cai said Australia should know for certain what the summer will hold by June. "Between March and May, predictability is low as this is a period in which there is high noise, the so-called autumn predictability barrier," he said. One thing is for certain though, La Niña is drawing to a close. Image: Getty

Travel Trouble

Kiwi firefighters receive rare Aussie honour for heroic efforts

A New Zealand firefighter has been awarded one of Australia’s special service awards for his efforts in fighting bushfires during the summer of 2019 and 2020. Phil Muldoon, Lake Ōkāreka’s chief rural fire officer, was one of 53 firefighters awarded the Australia National Emergency Medal during a recent awards ceremony. Muldoon, who worked 16-hour days fighting fires, said the honour was very humbling. “It’s not what we do it for but it is nice to be recognised, especially from the Australian Government,” Muldoon told <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/australia-bush-fires-nz-firefighter-given-rare-and-special-honour/4K7KKB2WRVEHXJKJ7IC5WBFY4I/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NZ Herald</a>. He was among a 208-strong contingent of New Zealanders sent to help their Aussie neighbours, including personnel from Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ), the Department of Conservation, forestry company partners, and the New Zealand Defence Force. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> We were proud to see 27 Department of Conservation firefighters awarded the Australia National Emergency Medal last week for their efforts fighting the devastating Australian wildfires during the 2019/2020 black summer. 🎖️<a href="https://t.co/Wh7xVdZQ8g">https://t.co/Wh7xVdZQ8g</a> <a href="https://t.co/vl8iEC9acs">pic.twitter.com/vl8iEC9acs</a> — Department of Conservation (@docgovtnz) <a href="https://twitter.com/docgovtnz/status/1591974150008377344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 14, 2022</a></blockquote> The majority of those who took part received the award during recent official ceremonies hosted in New Zealand by Australian High Commissioner HE Harinder Sidhu. Muldoon received his award along with 38 firefighters from FENZ, two members of the NZ Army, eight NZ Air Force members, two from the Department of Conservation, and three from forestry company partners. Having been a firefighter for 25 years, Muldoon said fighting the bushfires was his 16th deployment and that firefighters were chosen to deploy based on their skillset. “We went to help their firefighters in Australia who had a tough season. We’re fresh feet on the ground and give them a break,” Muldoon said, adding that the contingent brought New Zealand’s “can-do” attitude with them. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> A great honour to present the Australian National Emergency Medal at Ohakea <a href="https://twitter.com/NZAirForce?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NZAirForce</a> base, and to personally thank members of the <a href="https://twitter.com/NZDefenceForce?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NZDefenceForce</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/FireEmergencyNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FireEmergencyNZ</a> for their service to Australia in support of the 2019-20 Australian Bushfires response. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NZAirForce?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NZAirForce</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Force4NZ?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Force4NZ</a> <a href="https://t.co/GtTUay8VY6">pic.twitter.com/GtTUay8VY6</a> — Harinder Sidhu (@AusHCNZ) <a href="https://twitter.com/AusHCNZ/status/1580682019985854464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2022</a></blockquote> Earlier this month, nine firefighters from Northland received the award, including wildfire specialist Rory Renwick. After spending 14 days fighting blazes in remote Australian bush, Renwick said the gratitude expressed through the medal was just “icing on the cake”. "People stopped you on the street to shake your hand and say thank you. It's humbling and pretty amazing," he told <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/northland-firefighters-awarded-medal-for-efforts-during-australian-bushfires/FIMYEOSD5QQGEYTVSFHIRP34WI/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NZ Herald</a>. Renwick explained that New Zealand crews were often working in remote areas and tackling large fires. "We were trying to put out the edge of the fire to stop it spreading," he said. "We did anything from patrolling edges [and] dealing with small hotspots to working with aircraft and heavy machinery to slow the fire down and stop it." <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> I was presented with a national emergency <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/medal?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#medal</a> Monday night for the 19/20 bushfires here in Australia. <a href="https://t.co/L8il9Eob7P">pic.twitter.com/L8il9Eob7P</a> — Craig Chiffers (@cchiffers) <a href="https://twitter.com/cchiffers/status/1569818214888263681?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 13, 2022</a></blockquote> The award, which was approved by Queen Elizabeth II in 2011, is given to those who performed significant or sustained service during “nationally-significant emergencies”, according to the Governor-General’s <a href="https://www.gg.gov.au/australian-honours-and-awardsnational-emergency-medal/bushfires-2019-20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a>. Muldoon, Renwick, and the many others recognised for their efforts during the bushfires will receive a medal with a clasp that reads, “BUSHFIRES 19-20”. Russell Wood, the national commander of FENZ, said the award had never been given to any member of the organisation before. “This is a rare and special honour that the Australian Government has extended to us,” he said. “The bushfires in Australia in 2019/20 were catastrophic and we were glad we could be there to help them. “I am immensely proud of our people, who responded to the call so selflessly and put their time and energy into fighting one of the biggest wildfire disasters of our time. “It was a dangerous environment for everyone to be in, and they showed true Kiwi spirit in their sustained efforts under challenging conditions. “As a nation, we are very proud of our fine firefighters.” Image: Fire and Emergency NZ (Facebook)

Domestic Travel

Emergency response via wifi proposed to solve a wicked problem

Concern that tourists and travellers are not receiving local, up to date emergency information has sparked the idea that won the inaugural Natural Hazards Research Australia Disaster Challenge Final in Brisbane. Dr Kamarah Pooley and Mark Owens are behind the winning concept, which addresses what Natural Hazards Research (NHRA) describes as “a wicked problem” in the pantheon of problems caused by climate change. Pooley and Owens proposed using Wi-Fi captive portals to reach tourists and tourism workers with disaster preparation and prevention information. According to Pooley, an early-career researcher from Fire and Rescue New South Wales, the idea focuses on positive and practical information that people can use while on holiday to stay safe from floods, bushfires, cyclones and other natural hazards. The concept outlines a short video with tips about how to access emergency information and what to do if disaster strikes – customised to the local area – which would play before tourists access Wi-Fi services at accommodation or eateries. “Accessing free Wi-Fi is essential for holiday makers and our approach is another way to reach people who are hard to reach through current communication channels,” said Owens, an early-career researcher from the Country Fire Authority in Victoria. “Wi-Fi portals are a way that holiday makers can receive the vital information they need to make informed decisions during a natural hazard.” As NHRA CEO Andrew Gissing explained, “emergency management is full of wicked problems and new thinking is our way forward. We cannot keep doing things the same way and expecting a different result.” Pooley told Cosmos “Existing sources of disaster information build resilience in communities through targeted programs, resources and messages that are designed for defined, static populations. “While existing efforts are effective at reducing the risk and consequences of disasters for permanent residents and workers, there is little evidence to suggest that these approaches are applicable to transient communities. “Tourists have unstructured routines, making them difficult to access in a systematic way. Travellers are inherently difficult to reach. This is especially concerning when travellers are from overseas and are not aware of any of the usual sources of information, such as which radio stations to listen to, social media accounts to follow, or mobile applications to download.” <h2>So why would tourists access the emergency response content?</h2> “While our idea does not require tourists and tourism workers to access a Wi-Fi network, it taps into the large-scale adoption of wireless services and the everyday behaviours of an increasing tech savvy population to reach people who are on the move. “Australia has embraced wireless services and Wi-Fi is now considered an integral part of public infrastructure. Free Wi-Fi is increasingly rolling out, particularly in places frequented by tourists and tourism workers, such as accommodation, information centres, cafes, restaurants, parks, airports, and on airlines and buses. “Captive portals are web pages that users must view and interact with before accessing a Wi-Fi network. Any tourist or tourism worker who attempts to access a Wi-Fi network will have to watch a disaster preparedness video tailored to that time and place. After they have viewed the video, they will be provided with access to the Wi-Fi network. “Travellers are heavy consumers of wireless services. By tapping into Wi-Fi, we can deliver systematic disaster preparedness information to a large proportion and wide variety of travellers.” Emergency agencies and local media and the ABC have spent fifteen years trying to ensure they can deliver emergency information to local communities. Pooley says travellers require different messaging to permanent residents. “Many tourists are new to the local area and are unaware of the temporal and place-based factors influencing risk. They do not have accurate perceptions of risk and how disasters may interact with that season or place. They generally do not know what to do when a disaster occurs in that context. As a result, travellers need tailored information. “For example, while most locals know the local area, travellers often do not. We recommend that travellers download an offline map of the local area so that, in the event of a disaster and loss of telecommunication services, they have access to a map that will help them leave an area that is unsafe. “While most locals will know to listen to their local ABC radio, scroll through local emergency services social media pages, and download certain mobile applications such as the NSW RFS’ Fires Near Me app, travellers will not, especially if they are from overseas. “Our messaging will show travellers what apps to download and which channels to follow. During the 2019-2020 bushfire crisis, tens of thousands of travellers rushed to petrol stations and supermarkets, emptying local towns of fuel and food. “Our messaging encourages travellers to keep their fuel tank full, carry extra food and water, and leave early to avoid placing additional pressure on local communities and critical infrastructure. These are just a few examples of the additional information tourists and tourism workers need to adequately prepare for disasters. Natural Hazards Research Australia will now work with Poole and Owens to develop their concept, which is explained in this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdsmSPhQ9iM&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank" rel="noopener">short video</a>. Second place in the Disaster Challenge went to Griffith University postgraduate students Jane Toner, Sheridan Keegan, Ahmed Qasim, Lynn Lue-Kopman, Yunjin Wang and Manori Dissanayaka, alongside Cristina Hernandez-Santin from RMIT University. Their pitch was a disaster-activated information hub that harnessed the value of creative place-making and art to bring communities together and provide emergency information to tourists, titled Beacons of Hope. Third place was awarded to Jyoti Khatri K C and Mohammed Alqahtani, Queensland University of Technology PhD students, who drew on their personal experience of the 2022 Queensland floods to propose ways to harness community connections with culturally and linguistically diverse communities to increase emergency preparedness amongst migrant communities, whose knowledge of potential natural hazards in Australia may be low. The next Disaster Challenge will take place in 2023 This article originally appeared on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/news/emergency-response-solved-via-wifi/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and was written by Ian Mannix. Image: Shutterstock

Travel Trouble

Australia has a new bushfire danger rating system

Australia has a new bushfire danger rating system. Fire danger ratings describe the potential level of danger should a bushfire start. They provide people with information so they can take action to protect themselves and others from the potentially dangerous impacts of bushfires. The Australian Fire Danger Rating System (or AFDRS) has in many ways been a project more than 50 years in the making – only now it’s replacing the modelling originally developed in the 1960s with more precise scientific understandings of fuel sources, fire and human behaviours. The new system will extend to the way information is delivered to the public. While many roadside signs will be refreshed, some jurisdictions will instead use more modern communications like the internet and social media to relay information to their communities. So how does a sixty-year-old system – and the science behind it – get an overhaul? <h2>The science behind the new fire danger ratings</h2> While the public sees a colour-coded dial on a road sign, or catches an emergency update on the radio, there is a substantial body of scientific modelling underlying a system which covers one of the world’s largest countries by area. One of the most important changes to the AFDRS science is the expansion of vegetation models used to predict fire behaviour. Previously, the system considered just two types of vegetation – grassland and forest. Now, it’s eight. Grassland and forest remain, but the models have been refined and expanded to include grassy woodlands, spinifex, shrubland, mallee heath, button grass and pine forest. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/fire-1.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> The left map of Australia shows how fire modelling has seen Australia for the best part of sixty years, the right indicates how the nation will be viewed from September 1. That, says Dr Stuart Matthews, a principal project officer at NSW Rural Fire Service who led the science update for AFDRS, is because Australia is a land of more than just sweeping grassplains and expansive gum forests. “There’s very diverse range of vegetation across the whole country and pretending it’s all either grasslands or open, dry sclerophyll forest just isn’t an accurate representation,” says Matthews. The eight new vegetation models include the ability to consider 22 different fuel types. Creating a system that uses four times as many models is an involved process – one that has covered almost a decade of research, prototyping and public engagement. And the science goes beyond the expansion of vegetation analysis. Working closely with the Bureau of Meteorology to understand weather and climate patterns, the atmospheric science and reporting provided to both the AFDRS and the wider public has been updated to reflect the new vegetation modelling. <h2>How the science moves the dial</h2> Fire authorities use sophisticated systems to determine the rating for any given point in time. These systems – which are to be used nationally – divide the Australian landmass into 2.25 square kilometre units and analyses the fuel source within them. These units also reflect data on when the last time fuel in the region was burnt-through. Combined with the latest forecasts for areas from the weather bureau, information is placed into the fire behaviour model appropriate for the area. The system then creates a textual description of what a burning fire in that area would do, including its rate of spread, heat intensity and flame height. This description is then transferred to a series of tables which converts the description into a numerical value. This value aligns to a rating category on the Fire Behaviour Index, a ‘stepped’ indicator that allows authorities to prepare systems and resourcing to respond in the event of a fire. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/fire-2.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> This index effectively guides local authorities’ actions on days of fire risk. For the public, it’s the guide to moving the dial on road signs. There are five categories on the behaviour index: no rating, moderate, high, extreme and catastrophic. Until the end of August 2022, the scale includes ratings like ‘low-moderate’, ‘very high’, and ‘severe’ – these have been retired. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/fire-3.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> The ‘no rating’ acts as the “parking bay” for the roadside needle, advising the public of the lowest risk conditions. But there’s science behind that too. ‘No rating’ days align to conditions appropriate for a controlled, prescribed burn. “For instance, in forest, prescribed burnings are normally done at a heat output of about 750 kilowatts per metre,” says Matthews. “So, in forests, if the prediction coming out of the model was that intensity would be less than 750kW, it would be classified in the ‘no rating’ range.” Anything above 750kW in a forest community would force authorities to ‘grade up’. <h2>System overhauled, but we won’t need to wait sixty years for the next update</h2> The previous fire rating system was developed by CSIRO scientist A. G. McArthur in the 1960s. And while familiar characteristics have been transferred to the new project, the ‘back end’ processes and science were rigid. Rigid enough that the system has been largely unchanged for the six decades since it was first implemented. In contrast, the new AFDRS is designed to be updated as new science comes to hand. It’s also informed by real world, operational knowledge and experience. This, says Matthews, provides authorities with more precision in fire preparation and response. “It’s a really big change from the old system, where none of the rating levels had an established and agreed meaning,” he says. “In the McArthur work, they were set up as a suppression difficulty measure, but that was never ‘tied down’ and everyone had their own interpretation of what that meant, which made it really hard to assess how the system was working. It was poorly defined. “It’s taken sixty years to get to where we are and one of the obstacles, from a science point-of-view, was that the system was fixed. You couldn’t make incremental changes to it. “With the new system, we’ve built it in a modular way, and clearly broken down the different parts of the system so we can upgrade and change things if we need to.” An important element of the bushfire rating system is to be able to indicate the impact of a possible bushfire in words a landowner might understand. <hr /> The Country Fire Service (South Australia) describes a ‘Catastrophic Level’ bushfire as: <ul> <li>The worst conditions for a bush or grass fire.</li> <li>If a fire starts and takes hold, it will be extremely difficult to control. It will take significant fire fighting resources and cooler conditions to bring it under control.</li> <li>Spot fires will start well ahead of the main fire and cause rapid spread of the fire. Embers will come from many directions.</li> <li>Homes are not designed or constructed to withstand fires in these conditions.</li> <li>The safest place to be is away from bushfire prone areas.</li> </ul> Dr Matthews points out that the messaging for consequences will continue to be based on fire behaviour and known elements like flame heights, fuel loads, wind speed and spotting. “We are building a case for funding for more research to improve the accuracy in the future of the fire impact.“ This article originally appeared on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/people/australian-fire-danger-rating-system/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and was written by Matthew Agius. Image: Country Fire Authority (CFA)

Travel Trouble

Devastating reason ski-resort won’t reopen

A ski-resort in NSW won’t be able to open up this winter due to the early snowfall which has now delayed a rebuild that was destroyed in the 2020 bushfires. Selwyn Snow Resort shared the devastating news on Facebook explaining the hurdles they keep overcoming and will come out stronger after this one. The family friendly ski-resort was completely destroyed during the horrific bushfires that blanketed the state in 2020. “We’re deeply saddened that we find ourselves in this situation,” the post read. “Due to unprecedented early snowfalls the Selwyn re-build will not be complete by 2nd July.” Despite occurring during off-season, five of their employees had to be evacuated but with high hopes of reopening. The past seven days has seen some record snowfall and the resort was upset after the builder explained that it would be difficult to complete the renovations and rebuilding on time. “It’s difficult to be here after the hurdles we have faced over the last few years, and we want to thank our guests and the public for your ongoing support. “We know that this is devastating news for our guests, employees and local communities, and want you to know that we share this sadness with you and look forward to a fresh start in 2023.” Guests who purchased products from Selwyn Snow Resort will be refunded in full. Image: Facebook

Travel Trouble

New technology to keep track of koalas during bushfire season

<h3 dir="ltr">Authorities were left to guess the death toll of adorable koalas and other threatened species after the Black Summer bushfires that tore through our east coast.</h3> The disaster exposed a lack of data about what was living where - a consequence of how expensive and time consuming it is to gather such information on a large scale. On World Environment Day, news emerged of a three-way collaboration using drones, artificial intelligence algorithms and dedicated volunteers, to help make a difference. Drones fitted with cameras and thermal sensors will be given to trained Landcare groups and will be regularly flown over local koala habitats. Footage will then be sent to the Queensland University of Technology to be scanned by the AI algorithm, which essentially allows computers to "see". Highly accurate data about the location and number of koalas is then returned to volunteers, who can use it to inform their conservation work. University ecologist Grant Hamilton developed the algorithm with colleague Simon Denman and says involving Landcare groups is the perfect way to scale up the use of the technology and start generating big data sets. "As the Black Summer bushfires showed, we simply don't know what's out there. The huge benefit of this is being able to cover a lot of ground quickly," he said. It also removes the challenge of scaling rugged terrain and offers more accurate information. The $1.5 million project has been funded by WIRES, Australia's largest wildlife rescue organisation and Landcare with in-kind support from the university. Landcare Australia CEO Shane Norrish says the project will start with five groups from Victoria’s north to Queensland but will soon expand into other areas. The same approach could be used to monitor threatened species other than the koala. WIRES CEO Leanne Taylor says better data should mean a better wildlife response when future disasters strike. More than 60,000 koalas were killed or injured in the 2019/20 Black Summer bushfire disaster, WWF Australia calculated. Nearly three billion animals - including mammals, birds, reptiles and frogs - were impacted. Meanwhile, the 2022 Queensland budget will allocate almost $40 million to help protect the state's native flora and fauna. Image: Getty

Family & Pets

“You’re a disgrace”: Young activist confronts Scott Morrison

A 20-year-old self-described “progressive activist” was ejected from a western Sydney venue after gatecrashing a private event Scott Morrison was holding there and heckling the Prime Minister about the 2019-2020 bushfire response. Adisen Wright, who is listed online as a Young Labor Left supporter according to <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/federal-election-2022-scott-morrison-campaign-event-crashed-in-sydney-by-activist-linked-to-alp/e4f59354-e81c-4b05-a2fa-6cf7c8f00ff2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">9News</a>, shared the video of his interaction with Mr Morrison on <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@adisenofficial/video/7085648368055192833?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1&q=adisenofficial&t=1649805085346" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TikTok</a> with the caption, “Help me. I tried asking the PM a question and have been detained”. The four-minute video starts with Mr Wright in a friendly manner, saying, “Scomo … I just wanted to say hi, I’m pretty astounded as a young bloke here, it’s good to see you”. “Can I get a photo, is that alright?” he asks, panning the camera to show Mr Morrison’s face. When Mr Morrison realises he’s being filmed, he asks whether Mr Wright is part of the “press pack”, to which Mr Wright says, “No, no, I’m a local, I live up in the (Blue) mountains”. “I just want to ask one question, ScoMo,” he says, before Mr Morrison realises he is still being filmed and confronts Mr Wright about it. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been confronted by a self-described ‘social activist’ who gatecrashed a private function to tell the PM he was a ‘disgrace’ over his handling of bushfires and floods. DETAILS > <a href="https://t.co/wyZAj8DBSl">https://t.co/wyZAj8DBSl</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AusPol?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AusPol</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AusVotes?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AusVotes</a> <a href="https://t.co/6uOXhkRaO8">pic.twitter.com/6uOXhkRaO8</a> — Herald Sun (@theheraldsun) <a href="https://twitter.com/theheraldsun/status/1514008020543754240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 12, 2022</a></blockquote> After Mr Morrison tells Mr Wright that the event, held at the Nepean Rowing Club in Penrith, is private and walks away, the situation quickly becomes heated as Mr Wright continues to try and talk to the prime minister. “ScoMo, across the river here, across the Nepean River, people lost their houses and they were burnt,” Mr Wright says, before shouting, “You’re a disgrace! You are a disgrace!” Mr Wright then walks out of the venue with a police officer following behind him who goes on to question him for a few minutes. “Look, I didn’t know it was a private event. I genuinely didn’t. So I apologise for that,” he tells the officer in the clip. “But I just wanted to ask a question because look … I obviously care about government and in our area we got, our house was incredibly impacted. “We just want some action.” NSW Police said officers were called to the venue at about 7.35pm, where they issued a move-on direction to Mr Wright, who left without incident. Images: TikTok

News

Fire management in Australia has reached a crossroads and ‘business as usual’ won’t cut it

The current wet conditions delivered by <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/">La Niña</a> may have caused widespread flooding, but they’ve also provided a reprieve from the threat of bushfires in southeastern Australia. This is an ideal time to consider how we prepare for the next bushfire season. Dry conditions will eventually return, as will fire. So, two years on from the catastrophic Black Summer fires, is Australia better equipped for a future of extreme fire seasons? In our recent <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/fire4040097">synthesis</a> on the Black Summer fires, we argue climate change is exceeding the capacity of our ecological and social systems to adapt. The paper is based on a series of <a href="https://www.bushfirehub.org/publications/?work_package_filter=all-work-packages&category_filter=nsw_bushfire_inquiry_2020">reports</a> we, and other experts from the NSW Bushfire Risk Management Research Hub, were commissioned to produce for the NSW government’s bushfire inquiry. Fire management in Australia has reached a crossroads, and “business as usual” won’t cut it. In this era of mega-fires, diverse strategies are urgently needed so we can safely live with fire. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440578/original/file-20220113-13-xa4qd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="firefighter holds head while lying down" /> In the age of mega fires, new strategies are needed. David Mariuz <h2>Does prescribed burning work?</h2> Various government inquiries following the Black Summer fires of 2019-20 produced wide-ranging recommendations for how to prepare and respond to bushfires. Similar inquiries have been held since 1939 after previous bushfires. Typically, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00049158.2005.10674950">these inquiries</a> led to major changes to policy and funding. But almost universally, this was followed by a gradual complacency and failure to put policies into practice. If any fire season can provide the catalyst for sustained changes to fire management, it is Black Summer. So, what have we learnt from that disaster and are we now better prepared? To answer the first question, we turn to our <a href="https://www.bushfirehub.org/nsw-bushfire-inquiry-2020/">analyses</a> for the <a href="https://www.nsw.gov.au/nsw-government/projects-and-initiatives/nsw-bushfire-inquiry#toc-published-submissions">NSW Bushfire Inquiry</a>. Following the Black Summer fires, debate emerged about whether hazard reduction burning by fire authorities ahead of the fire season had been sufficient, or whether excessive “fuel loads” – such as dead leaves, bark and shrubs – had been allowed to accumulate. We found no evidence the fires were driven by above-average fuel loads stemming from a lack of planned burning. In fact, hazard reduction burns conducted in the years leading up to the Black Summer fires effectively reduced the probability of high severity fire, and reduced the number of houses destroyed by fire. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440583/original/file-20220113-19-8i5dnj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="remains of homes destroyed by fire" /> Prescribed burning reduced the numbers of homes affected by fire. James Gourley/AAP Instead, we found the fires were primarily driven by record-breaking fuel dryness and extreme weather conditions. These conditions were due to natural climate variability, but made worse by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-020-00065-8">climate change</a>. Most fires were sparked by lightning, and very few were thought to be the result of arson. These extreme weather conditions meant the effectiveness of prescribed burns was reduced – particularly when an area had not burned for more than five years. All this means that hazard reduction burning in NSW is generally effective, however in the face of worsening climate change new policy responses are needed. <h2>Diverse and unexpected impacts</h2> As the Black Summer fires raged, loss of life and property most commonly occurred in regional areas while metropolitan areas were heavily affected by smoke. Smoke exposure from the disaster led to an estimated <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-020-00610-5">429 deaths</a>. Socially disadvantaged and Indigenous populations were disproportionately affected by the fires, including by loss of income, homes and infrastructure, as well as <a href="https://theconversation.com/strength-from-perpetual-grief-how-aboriginal-people-experience-the-bushfire-crisis-129448">emotional trauma</a>. Our <a href="https://www.bushfirehub.org/resources/demographic-characteristics-nsw-inquiry-impacts-on-people-and-property-report/">analyses</a> found 38% of fire-affected areas were among the most disadvantaged, while just 10% were among the least disadvantaged. We also found some areas with relatively large <a href="https://theconversation.com/1-in-10-children-affected-by-bushfires-is-indigenous-weve-been-ignoring-them-for-too-long-135212">Indigenous populations</a> were fire-affected. For example, four fire-affected areas had Indigenous populations greater than 20% including the Grafton, Eurobodalla Hinterland, Armidale and Kempsey regions. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440370/original/file-20220112-17-wxfm5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Two maps illustrating (a) the index of relative social disadvantage, and (b) the proportion of affected population that was Indigenous (2016 Census)" /> Demographic characteristics of fire-affected communities in NSW. https://doi.org/10.3390/fire4040097 The Black Summer fires burnt an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-0716-1">unprecedentedly large area</a> – half of all wet sclerophyll forests and over a third of rainforest vegetation types in <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/fire4040097">NSW</a>. Importantly, for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13265">257 plant species</a>, the historical intervals between fires across their range were likely too short to allow effective regeneration. Similarly, many vegetation communities were left vulnerable to too-frequent fire, which may result in biodiversity decline, particularly as the climate changes. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440585/original/file-20220113-27-yqcxil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="green shoot sprouting from burnt trunk" /> Not all plant species can regenerate after too-frequent fire. Darren England/AAP <h2>Looking to the future</h2> So following Black Summer, how do we ensure Australia is better equipped for a future of extreme fire seasons? As a first step, we must act on both the knowledge gained from government inquiries into the disaster, and the recommendations handed down. Importantly, long-term funding commitments are required to support bushfire management, research and innovation. Governments have already increased investment in fire-suppression resources such as <a href="https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/new-weapon-to-fight-aussie-bushfires-kicks-off-service-in-wa/news-story/fa66e567e336164723cae8b98bb3ba8d">water-bombing aircraft</a>. There’s also been increased investment in fire management such as <a href="https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/news-and-media/ministerial-media-releases/further-$268.2-million-responding-to-nsw-bushfire-inquiry-recommendations">improving fire trails</a> and employing additional hazard reduction crews, as well as <a href="https://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/porter/media-releases/world-class-natural-hazards-research-centre">new allocations</a> for research funding. But alongside this, we also need investment in community-led solutions and involvement in bushfire planning and operations. This includes strong engagement between fire authorities and residents in developing strategies for hazard reduction burning, and providing greater support for people to manage fuels on private land. Support should also be available to people who decide to relocate away from high bushfire risk areas. The Black Summer fires led to significant interest in a revival of Indigenous <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-26/cultural-burning-to-protect-from-catastrophic-bushfires/100241046">cultural burning</a> – a practice that brings multiple benefits to people and environment. However, non-Indigenous land managers should not treat cultural burning as simply another hazard reduction technique, but part of a broader practice of Aboriginal-led cultural land management. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440593/original/file-20220113-21-fo43aj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="three figures in smoke-filled forest" /> Indigenous burning is part of a broader practice of Aboriginal-led land management. Josh Whittaker This requires structural and procedural changes in non-Indigenous land management, as well as secure, adequate and ongoing funding opportunities. Greater engagement and partnership with Aboriginal communities at all levels of fire and land management is also needed. Under climate change, living with fire will require a multitude of new solutions and approaches. If we want to be prepared for the next major fire season, we must keep planning and investing in fire management and research – even during wet years such as this one. <hr /> Ross Bradstock, Owen Price, David Bowman, Vanessa Cavanagh, David Keith, Matthias Boer, Hamish Clarke, Trent Penman, Josh Whittaker and many others contributed to the research upon which this article is based.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174696/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rachael-helene-nolan-179005">Rachael Helene Nolan</a>, Senior research fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/western-sydney-university-1092">Western Sydney University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/grant-williamson-109967">Grant Williamson</a>, Research Fellow in Environmental Science, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tasmania-888">University of Tasmania</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/katharine-haynes-4467">Katharine Haynes</a>, Honorary Senior Research Fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-wollongong-711">University of Wollongong</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mark-ooi-1218431">Mark Ooi</a>, Senior Research Fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/unsw-1414">UNSW</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/fire-management-in-australia-has-reached-a-crossroads-and-business-as-usual-wont-cut-it-174696">original article</a>. Image: Darren England/AAP

Home Hints & Tips

Burning is the slickest film about climate change since An Inconvenient Truth – and that’s its problem

Review: Burning, directed by Eva Orner. The word “crisis” comes from the Greek krinein, which means to decide. You’re stuck in the middle of a burning fire: you need to decide whether you are going to stay and perish; whether you are going to fight to put it out; or whether you are going to leave and let it burn. Burning, Eva Orner’s new documentary, is about the climate crisis, and the Australian government’s decision to (metaphorically) let the fires burn. It is quite explicit in its claims, and this makes it effective as a kind of cinematic essay. It carefully presents – via the words of interviewee <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.smh.com.au/culture/books/former-fire-chief-greg-mullins-faces-the-firestorm-again-20210918-p58stw.html" target="_blank">Greg Mullins</a>, former New South Wales fire commissioner – the history of bushfires in Australia. <iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hTfyD7ALJtU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> While acknowledging, as the refrain goes, there have always been fires in Australia, the film presents evidence and analysis showing fires have massively worsened in recent years in frequency and severity in line with the forecasts of climate scientists regarding global warming. Burning goes on to argue the 2019-2020 “Black Summer” bushfires, its ostensible subject, could have been headed off by a well-conceived response to global warming. Past and present Through a series of talking head interviews, Burning convincingly argues the severity of the devastation of the Black Summer bushfires is largely the fault of the Morrison government (and preceding conservative governments) in refusing to recognise climate change is real, and to enact policies addressing this. Mullins’ commentary is joined by, among others, scientist <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.australianoftheyear.org.au/recipients/tim-flannery/110/" target="_blank">Tim Flannery</a>, young activist <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.vogue.com.au/culture/features/teenage-climatechange-campaigner-daisy-jeffrey-on-what-its-really-like-to-be-a-young-activist/news-story/4b7442757e6e066df7d3ce31f07410cd" target="_blank">Daisy Jeffrey</a>, writer <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.magabala.com/collections/bruce-pascoe" target="_blank">Bruce Pascoe</a> and residents affected by the bushfires who talk about the devastation their communities faced. Through meticulously curated and assembled archival footage, we also hear from a list of the usual suspects: Tony Abbott, Malcolm Roberts, Barnaby Joyce, Alan Jones, and of course, Prime Minister Scott Morrison. The film is careful to tie this back to much earlier conservative discourse, with an interview with Alexander Downer in which he contests the reality of global warming. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430676/original/file-20211108-16752-1s9xxhz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430676/original/file-20211108-16752-1s9xxhz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="A charred landscape" /></a> Burning argues the Black Summer bushfires could have been averted if climate action had been taken. Amazon Prime It also – again, convincingly – demonstrates the role of the Murdoch media in propagating climate change denialism, with snippets from Sky News as recent as 2020 casting doubt on the reality of global warming. The film is at pains to point out this is not only historical, but current – we see Morrison recently bagging out electric cars (“<a rel="noopener" href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/10/scott-morrison-walks-back-end-the-weekend-rhetoric-on-electrical-vehicles" target="_blank">It’s not gonna tow your trailer</a>. It’s not going to tow your boat. It’s not going to get you out to your favourite camping spot with your family.”) and proselytising about the future role of gas in Australia’s economy. Too polished It’s a very well-made documentary, full of stunning images of Australian geography and flora and fauna – beautiful <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.videomaker.com/article/c6/17127-bokeh-and-depth-of-field" target="_blank">bokeh</a>, slow tracking shots around leaves, etc – interspersed with dramatic meteorological charts, and some shocking footage of the bushfires burning across the country. It is, I would suggest, the slickest film about climate change since An Inconvenient Truth (2006), and, like that film, its polish plays against it as a documentary film experience. This is the annoying thing about the film: it’s so right at the level of content, but formally it falls short. Apart from a few select moments – harrowing images of charred animals, a koala trying to escape a fire, and a devastating interview with a young mother whose baby was born prematurely with a dying placenta because of smoke inhalation – the actual material centred on the bushfires is peculiarly uninvolving. We watch interviews with Cobargo residents that, given the subject, seem surprisingly run of the mill. It’s like the film mentions the smoke, but doesn’t capture its eerie apocalyptic quality. It mentions the intense heartbreak and brutality of the fires for towns like Cobargo, but doesn’t put us in the middle of it. It tells us things more than it makes us feel things, and this is seldom beneficial in the medium. Even much of the footage captured by residents seems strangely contained by the film, with what surely was a surreal, infernal nightmare presented instead in a thoroughly digestible, middlebrow fashion. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430675/original/file-20211108-9989-1k54s2x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430675/original/file-20211108-9989-1k54s2x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="A firefighter" /></a> Burning gets so much right in regards to its content, but is let down by its form. Amazon Prime Burning clearly examines climate change as a political weapon in Australia – and leaves no doubt about the connections between global warming and the recent bushfires. The message of the film is spot on, the logic of its argument faultless. There are striking moments – footage of dead animals; listening to Daisy Jeffrey; Bruce Pascoe’s closing words about the stewardship of the land. And yet it doesn’t work as well as it could as a piece of cinema. It lacks the edge of eco docos like <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/film-review-wild-things-packs-passionate-climate-activism-into-an-overly-polite-documentary-154374" target="_blank">Wild Things</a> (2020) partly because it’s too slick. We want a hot and sweaty, intense film from within the belly of the bushfires and the horrors of Australian climate policy – instead we get a polished and well-mannered one. It is a really good, well-made doco essay – primed for streaming (produced for Amazon, this is probably its primary intended medium, so it’s no surprise it isn’t very cinematic). Its material is compelling - it certainly stokes our indignation - but it is unlikely to teach a climate change believer anything they don’t already know, and a sceptic won’t watch or listen to it anyway. Burning is at Sydney Film Festival until Monday November 8 and will be streaming on Amazon Prime from November 26.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171385/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ari-mattes-97857" target="_blank">Ari Mattes</a>, Lecturer in Communications and Media, <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-notre-dame-australia-852" target="_blank">University of Notre Dame Australia</a> This article is republished from <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/burning-is-the-slickest-film-about-climate-change-since-an-inconvenient-truth-and-thats-its-problem-171385" target="_blank">original article</a>. Image: Amazon Prime

Movies

We are professional fire watchers, and we’re astounded by the scale of fires in remote Australia right now

While southern Australia experienced a wet winter and a soggy spring, northern Australia has seen the opposite. Extreme fire weather in October and November led to bushfires across <a href="https://firenorth.org.au/">120,000 square kilometres</a> of southern savanna regions. Significant fires continue to burn in the Kimberley, the Top End, Cape York and the northern deserts. And while recent rain across the central deserts has reduced the current fire risk, it will significantly increase fuel loads which creates the potential for large wildfires in summer. We are professional fire watchers. The lead author of this article, Rohan Fisher, <a href="https://firenorth.org.au/">maps and monitors</a> fires across the tropical savannas and rangelands that comprise 70% of the Australian continent. The scale of burning we’re now seeing astounds us – almost as much as the lack of interest they generate. This continent’s fire ecology is poorly understood by most Australians, despite recent significant bushfire events close to big cities. But as we enter the Pyrocene age under worsening climate change, good fire knowledge is vitally important. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435758/original/file-20211206-15-1szo1gh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Indigenous man and child walk on burnt landscape" /> On the Mitchell Plateau in Western Australia, a Kandiwal man and his child walk through country burnt by traditional fires. Such ancient methods must be expanded to help Australia survive the Pyrocene. Philip Schubert/Shutterstock <h2>In the desert, fire and water are linked</h2> Fires in arid Australia are extensive, largely unmanaged, often destructive and significantly under-reported. Improving their management involvement is crucial to both Traditional Owners and the ecological health of our continent. To improve pyro-literacy, we developed a <a href="https://savannafiremapping.com/nafi-mobile-app/">mobile app</a> to map fires across most of Australia in real-time. This year, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-30/extreme-heatwave-to-hit-kimberley-and-the-pilbara/100658568">Western Australia</a> and the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-19/nt-heatwave-conditions-peak-record-temperatures-bom/100549312">Northern Territory</a> experienced serious heatwaves late in the year and a late start to the wet season. This provided the perfect bushfire conditions. In contrast, central Australia has experienced rare flooding rains, including at Alice Springs which recorded the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-13/alice-springs-wettest-november-on-record/100616212">wettest November</a> on record. This creates dangerous fuel loads heading into summer. In the desert, water and fire is coupled in both space and time. Fire burns where water flows, because that’s where fuel – in the form of vegetation – is heaviest. The below satellite image from the Pilbara illustrates this point. It shows the path of an arid-zone fire flowing like water along dry creeks and drainage lines. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434382/original/file-20211129-15-q3vm4s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /> Arid-zone fire travelling along dry creeks and drainage lines. Where country is not managed for fire, it can lead to catastrophic outcomes. The incidence of previous fire also influences fire spread. Without the regular application of fire, large tracts of desert can accumulate heavy fuel loads, primed for ignition. Over a few months in 2011, our data show more than 400,000 square kilometres in central Australia burned – almost twice the size of Victoria. It was one of the <a href="https://austrangesoc.com.au/range-management-newsletter-12-2/#article_166">largest</a> single fire events in recent Australian history and coincided with the wet La Nina period in 2010-12. Watching from satellites in space, we mapped the spread of the fires in near-real time, as this video shows: <iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yJJPm0cUTJ4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> A hot spot animation of the 2011 fire season in central Australia. <h2>Fire management through time</h2> For many thousands of years, Australia’s Indigenous people have skilfully burned landscapes to manage country. <a href="https://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/management/fire/fire-and-the-environment/41-traditional-aboriginal-burning">Most fires</a> are relatively low-intensity or “cool” and do not burn large areas. This results in a <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-you-have-unfinished-business-its-time-to-let-our-fire-people-care-for-this-land-135196">fine-scale mosaic</a> of different vegetation types and fuel ages, reducing the chance of large fires. Researchers have <a href="https://www.cabdirect.org/cabdirect/abstract/20063159465">looked back in time</a> to provide insight into fire management as it once was. This was done using aerial photography taken in the 1940s and 1950s in preparation for missile testing at Woomera in South Australia. The below aerial photo from 1953 reveals a complex mosaic of burn patterns and burn ages – a result of fine-scale land management by Traditional Owners. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434607/original/file-20211130-18-1x8y4pf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /> A 1953 aerial photo of the Western Desert showing a complex fine scale fire mosaic resulting from Indigenous burning. But following the displacement of Indigenous people and the decline of traditional burning practices, fire regimes changed dramatically. The average fire size today is many orders of magnitude <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andrew-Burbidge/publication/284776990_Evidence_of_altered_fire_regimes_in_the_Western_Desert_regime_of_Australia/links/565bca3508aeafc2aac62299/Evidence-of-altered-fire-regimes-in-the-Western-Desert-regime-of-Australia.pdf">greater</a> than those set under Aboriginal management. The change has been <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/wr/wr05032">implicated</a> in the decline and extinction of some mammals and plant species. One massive and fast-moving October fire in the Tanami desert – home to endangered bilbies – burned nearly 7,000 square kilometres over a few days, our data show. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434379/original/file-20211129-25-ilvsxy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /> The massive and fast-moving Tanami desert fire burnt nearly 7,000 km2 over a few days. <h2>Back to desert burning</h2> Like everywhere on this continent, fire in our vast deserts must be well-managed. Getting people back on desert country to reintroduce complex fire mosaics is difficult work but will have <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/wf/wf20057">significant</a> benefits for both nature and Indigenous people. Challenges include building capacity amongst ranger groups and communities, overcoming legal and insurance hurdles and employing novel techniques to apply “cool” fires at a near-continental scale. The role of Indigenous ranger groups is critical here. Organisations such as <a href="https://10deserts.org/">10 Deserts</a> – a partnership between Indigenous and conservation organisations – are supporting desert fire work. <a href="https://10deserts.org/committee/peter_murray/">Peter Murray</a> is chair of the 10 Deserts project and a Ngurrara Traditional Owner from the Great Sandy Desert. On the importance of this work, he says: <blockquote> Right now, we’re working on Indigenous “right way” cultural burning as a means of preventing wildfires. We’re developing dedicated male and female ranger teams to look after the land and develop tourism. And we’re encouraging traditional owners to return to the desert to share and exchange knowledge as well as collecting and storing that knowledge to pass onto younger generations. </blockquote> <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434611/original/file-20211130-27-1i2yotw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Indigenous man burning country" /> Indigenous rangers are crucial when caring for fire-prone landscapes. Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa/Gareth Catt <h2>Living in the Pyrocene</h2> As climate change worsens, we’re now living in a global fire age dubbed <a href="https://www.stephenpyne.com/disc.htm">the Pyrocene</a>. This will bring challenges across the Australian continent. Throughout remote Australia, increasing extreme fire weather will see more severe bushfires. Good fire management in these landscapes is urgently needed. In the northern tropical savannas, Indigenous-led fire management at the landscape scale is already <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-worlds-best-fire-management-system-is-in-northern-australia-and-its-led-by-indigenous-land-managers-133071">producing</a> some of the worlds best fire management outcomes. The challenge is to introduce similar scales of fire management across our vast deserts. These regions are rich with nature and culture, and they deserve far more attention than they’ve received to date. <img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172773/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rohan-fisher-976329">Rohan Fisher</a>, Information Technology for Development Researcher, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/charles-darwin-university-1066">Charles Darwin University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/neil-burrows-1295249">Neil Burrows</a>, Adjunct professor, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-western-australia-1067">The University of Western Australia</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-are-professional-fire-watchers-and-were-astounded-by-the-scale-of-fires-in-remote-australia-right-now-172773">original article</a>. Image: Shutterstock

Domestic Travel

See the tiny houses made to withstand bushfires

Designer and builder <a rel="noopener" href="https://tctiny.com.au/" target="_blank">Tom Coupe</a> creates tiny houses on wheels, and they are built with a particular purpose in mind: bushfire protection. The minimalist homes feature fewer, smaller windows than a standard minimalist house, complete with shutters that can be quickly closed, and an exterior that resembles a bunker. These differences are some of 125 modifications Coupe has implemented to create tiny houses on wheels (THOWs) that are bushfire-resistant, a speciality he has been working on since 2018. Surprisingly, THOWs aren’t required to be fire-proof, despite their frequent use in rural areas. With their attached wheels, THOWs are classified as caravans and aren’t subject to the bushfire attack level standards other new houses built in fire-prone areas are required to meet. But, Coupe’s time living in the small township of Kinglake - where effects of 2009’s Black Saturday fires still linger - has informed his fire-resistant work. “Tiny houses are, by nature, portable - no one really knows where they will end up,” he says. “With the potential for almost every house in Victoria to be affected by fire, I believe it’s beneficial for all houses, portable or not, to be resistant to airborne embers and smoke.” To achieve this, Coupe reduces the number of weak points where fire could enter his houses. With the shutters, the airtight lips around the windows, and the fireproof mesh covering the vents, the chance of embers or burning debris finding a place to ignite drops. For Coupe, the main goal is to prevent heat from getting inside, and he meticulously seals cracks and gaps - a step he says is often overlooked with tiny houses. He says fabric and furnishings inside the home are “far more flammable than anything that’s on the outside of the house”, making radiant heat the biggest threat to homes. His most recent builds have even gone completely electric to remove the gas risk, and complete fireproofing sees the tyres removed. All of his developments are tested under flame and intense heat to give a realistic and accurate idea of their effectiveness. He then shares much of his experimentation on YouTube, and even makes his designs easy to reproduce by other builders. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Vwjv2PyaG2Q" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> “I don’t have fancy machinery or equipment and I don’t import materials,” he <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.domain.com.au/news/tiny-homes-can-be-bushfire-resistant-too-1111773/" target="_blank">says</a>. “Either of these would make replicating these houses untenable to the average owner-builder or commercial builder.” With that in mind, Coupe chooses materials that are easy to purchase, including his fireproof paints, fire-resistant insulations, and low-ignitability timbers. “Australia needs too many of these [fire-resistant THOWs] for me to build them all,” he says. Though the fire-resistant modifications push the price up, Coupe says it’s “not as pricey as most would expect” and costs significantly “less than rebuilding”. The markup ranges from about 10 percent for a medium fire-resistance level, up to 50 percent more for the highest level of protection. Importantly, Coupe says the homes are designed to be unharmed while their occupants head to safety. “Leaving early should be an easy decision,” he says. “My houses need to look ready for battle at a moment’s notice or much of their benefit can be lost from the outset.” Images: TC Tiny (Facebook)

Real Estate

Arrest warrant issued for man missing in bushfire zone

Image: Facebook/WA Police An arrest warrant has been issued for Jordan Marshall, a real estate agent missing in the Margaret River fire zone since last Wednesday. Mr Marshall, aged 40, was due to appear for a scheduled court matter in Fremantle Magistrates Court on Monday morning but failed to appear. His burnt-out car was found near where a bushfire broke out in Margaret River last week. Family, friends, and police are concerned for the father-of-three’s welfare, as he was on bail at the time of his disappearance. He was last spotted near Mammoth Cave on December 8th, the day the bushfire broke out. After burning out of control for several days, the fire has now been contained after burning out 5,500 hectares of land. WA Police confirmed that the arson unit, Strike Force Vulcan, is on the scene. On Saturday, the unit released a statement confirming their suspicion that the fire had been deliberately lit. “Based on initial assessment of the fire scene it is believed the fire was deliberately lit and may have been ignited near Mammoth Cave,” the statement said. Police have not stated whether they believe Mr Marshall was involved in the bushfire, but his failure to appear in court on Monday has prompted the issuing of an arrest warrant, as he failed to comply with bail conditions. Mr Marshall was due to appear on one count each of criminal damage or destruction of property and unlawfully assault and bodily harm with circumstances of aggravation. According to police, the first charge relates to an incident that happened on December 4 in White Gum Valley. The second charge is from an incident that happened on the same day in South Fremantle, and he is also charged with a further three counts of criminal damage or destruction of property. He is due to face court for these charges December the 31st. Mr Marshall’s brother has shared with The West Australian that Jordan is suffering from mental health issues. “We are pleading with members of the community to keep an eye out for Jordan, and to check their properties for any signs of him. “We would appreciate any help that will bring our Jordo home.” Mr Marshall is described as having a solid build with short brown hair and brown eyes. He is about 170cm tall. Police have asked anyone with information of the whereabouts of Mr Marshall to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a report online at crimestopperswa.com.au.

News

Did we underestimate the health effects of the Black Summer bushfires?

<div> <div class="copy"> Research led by the Australian National University (ANU) has discovered undocumented health problems among people exposed to bushfire smoke. This suggests that the physical and mental impacts of the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/climate/what-fuelled-australias-black-summer-fires/" target="_blank">Black Summer fires</a> were more extensive than previously thought. The team surveyed more than 2000 residents of areas around Canberra, Australia’s capital city, who were affected by widespread bushfires during the deadly summer of 2019–20. The survey asked a range of questions about physical and mental symptoms, as well as their behavioural changes during that time. “We found that almost every single respondent to our survey experienced at least one physical health symptom that they attributed to the smoke,” says Iain Walker, co-author of the study and a professor of psychology at ANU. The most common physical symptoms were coughing and eye and throat irritation. “In addition, about one-half of our respondents reported symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as sleep loss,” says Walker. But less than one-fifth of respondents (17%) went to a medical practitioner for help, and only 1% went to hospital. This means that the official rate of people presenting to the health system as a result of bushfire smoke is almost certainly much lower than the actual number of people affected. Walker explains: “It is likely that official statistics greatly underestimate the prevalence of health problems because of the major hurdles in the way of anyone presenting into the system, and we think many residents were motivated to avoid overburdening the health system at a time when it was stretched.” We have long known that bushfire smoke can cause health problems. It contains a mix of particles and gases that can be transported by wind through the atmosphere, including fine particulate matter (particles smaller than 2.5 micrometres in diameter) that impact the functioning of the respiratory and cardiac systems, as well as impair the immune system. Every year, 340,000 premature deaths <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1843.2010.01868.x" target="_blank">can be attributed</a> to bushfire smoke around the world, and during the Black Summer, <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.50511" target="_blank">millions of people</a> were exposed to extreme levels of air pollution. This new research from ANU highlights that bushfire smoke affects mental health as well as physical health. Some of the mental effects were direct, such as anxiety and stress, and others were secondary, such as disruption to normal routines – the likes of sleep and exercise – that promote wellbeing. There was also, Walker says, “significant disruption to relationships with friends, family and community, which are all things that help maintain our wellbeing”. Some of these impacts may sound familiar from COVID-19 lockdowns, but this data was collected in February and March 2020, meaning there was minimal overlap. This adds to the relatively few studies that look directly at the impacts of bushfire smoke on psychological health and wellbeing, separate from exposure to bushfires in general. But while a survey is a good way to gather information from a large number of people, it does have limitations, says Brian Oliver, a <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/we-know-bushfire-smoke-affects-our-health-but-the-long-term-consequences-are-hazy-129451" target="_blank">respiratory researcher</a> at the University of Technology Sydney and the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research. For example, he says, it is difficult to get a baseline with which to compare the responses. “It’s not clear from the study whether or not they’ve actually compared these people’s symptoms to a similar period,” says Oliver. “So for example, are these the people that would visit a health care professional regularly anyway?” But Oliver says this is still valuable work, especially since it is “incredibly difficult” to access healthcare records in Australia to obtain similar information. “In the Netherlands, for example, there’s one database…and your whole medical history is there,” he says. “But in Australia, we’re not set up for that, so this is a really nice snapshot of something that will allow other researchers to build upon it with more detailed, investigative-type studies.” Walker agrees that it’s becoming increasingly important to investigate the health effects of bushfire smoke. “We have known for some time from the climate science that the frequency, intensity and severity of bushfires in Australia will increase, so it’s something we need to learn to adapt to,” he says. “Part of that is understanding the consequences of things like exposure to bushfire smoke.” Walker recalls that during the Black Summer, the bushfire smoke was so intense in Canberra that it was constantly setting off smoke alarms at all ANU buildings. It was a logistical nightmare – to the point that the university had to close the campus. “It’s kind of a little microcosm of what happens in that sort of widespread catastrophe,” he says. “Services – service support, service delivery – are stretched beyond capacity.” Not only are disasters like bushfires expected to increase, but they are also likely to cascade into each other – imagine, for example, if the Black Summer had overlapped with the peak of COVID. “Broadly, I think we as a nation need to look closely at our various health systems and the ability to cope with a massive surge in demand,” Walker says, referring to not just hospital admissions but access to pharmacies, mental health services and more. “We are conducting further studies to understand how bushfires continue to affect the mental health of people impacted by these fires and the smoke, and how we can build resilience among individuals and communities.” Oliver says these kinds of studies are also important so that “the pollies don’t forget that bushfires have devastating consequences. “The more evidence and the more data we have showing that this is actually what happens in the real world when there are bushfire events, the more likely we are to get an appropriate response in the future.” For example, if there were major fires in Canberra, GPs, psychologists or other health services from Sydney could be called in to help share the burden. There are still many unanswered questions around the impacts of bushfire smoke, including the simple fact that we don’t have a good understanding of the long-term health consequences. This is partly due to lack of funding for health-related research. Even after the Black Summer fires, Oliver says that comparatively little funding was put into research around the impacts of smoke – a total of $5 million was <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.health.gov.au/ministers/the-hon-greg-hunt-mp/media/5-million-for-bushfire-related-health-research" target="_blank">offered</a> from the federal government’s Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) in January 2020. “For the magnitude of these events, it’s not proportional,” he says. “In general, Australia’s [health funding] is quite low.” He gives Singapore as a comparison: the country has a population one-fifth the size of ours, yet the Singaporean government puts more money into medical research than Australia. “The New South Wales government receives more income from gambling than the federal government spends on health and medical research,” adds Oliver. The study was <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.682402" target="_blank">published</a> in a special edition of the journal Frontiers in Public Health devoted to rapid-response research to bushfires. Image credits: Getty Images</div> <div id="contributors"> This article was originally published on <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/body-and-mind/health-effects-of-bushfire-smoke/" target="_blank">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and was written by Lauren Fuge. </div> </div>

Body

How a team of hungry GOATS is helping to fight fires

After the devastating bushfires that ravaged Australia in 2019 and 2020, the RFS is looking to unusual method to prevent history from repeating. A new tactic adopted by the Rural Fire Service has been to put some furry friends to good use by doing what they do best: eating! Hungry goats have been given the job of protecting towns that have been identified as an extreme bushfire risk this summer by grazing on all the grass and shrubs. A herd of bucks and billies have been placed at Clandulla village near Mudgee in NSW's Central West, after being loaned to the area by two local farmers. They will be grazing on the land in Clandulla for the next two months, eating their way through the foliage that poses a fire risk. "Goats will eat up shrubs, small tree saplings and eat woody weeds some of your other animals won't," farmer Michael Blewitt said. While this unique method of containing fires is a first for Australia, the tactic has been used and proven to work in the US, Spain and Portugal. These goats are expected to clear more than two hectares over the next three weeks, creating a buffer zone to the village of 200 people. While back burning is an efficient way of clearing fire hazards, it is often dependant on weather conditions, where goats are happy to clear away grass, shrubs and bushes in rain, hail or shine. Image credit: Shutterstock

Travel Trouble

Prince Charles implores big business to help us ‘go green’

Prince Charles has made an impassioned plea to global business leaders, imploring them to help us ‘go green’, following huge bushfires that recently ripped through Greece as well as unprecedented storms in Haiti. The prince wrote this call to business leaders in the Daily Mail, saying businesses with money have a critical role to play, and that if we unlock this private sector investment, we could bring about a 'game-changing green transition'. Talking about the devastating bushfires in his beloved Greece, Prince Charles wrote the scenes of these fires have been 'terrifying' and 'the stuff of nightmares'. He tells of his heartbreak at seeing the land where his father and grandfather were born being 'swallowed up by ferocious flames' and warns that 'time is rapidly running out'. 'We now have no alternative,’ he writes, ‘… we have to do all we possibly can in the short time left to us to avoid the enormous climate catastrophe that has already begun to show its face in the most terrifying ways.’ We have time left, ‘but only just’ Prince Charles writes, there is time to address the crisis, 'but only just'. The prince wants leading companies to sign up to his 'Terra Carta', a charter which commits them to putting sustainability at the heart of all their business activities. More than 400 have so far, but Charles warns the crisis is 'monumental' and can be tackled only by big business and governments working together. Warning that weather-related disasters should serve as a wake-up call, the prince writes: 'We have been in the 'last chance saloon' for too long already, so if we do not confront the monumental challenge head on - and fast - we and the world as we know it will be done for.' <img class="post_image_group" src="https://over60.monday.com/protected_static/657795/resources/279481326/big-Bushfires%20in%20Greece%20UM.jpg" alt="" data-asset_id="279481326" data-url-thumb="https://over60.monday.com/protected_static/657795/resources/279481326/thumb-Bushfires%20in%20Greece%20UM.jpg" data-url-thumb-small="https://over60.monday.com/protected_static/657795/resources/279481326/thumb_small-Bushfires%20in%20Greece%20UM.jpg" data-url-thumb-big-scaled="https://over60.monday.com/protected_static/657795/resources/279481326/thumb_big_scaled-Bushfires%20in%20Greece%20UM.jpg" data-url-large="https://over60.monday.com/protected_static/657795/resources/279481326/large-Bushfires%20in%20Greece%20UM.jpg" data-url-big="https://over60.monday.com/protected_static/657795/resources/279481326/big-Bushfires%20in%20Greece%20UM.jpg" data-url-original="https://over60.monday.com/protected_static/657795/resources/279481326/Bushfires%20in%20Greece%20UM.jpg" data-filename="Bushfires in Greece UM.jpg" data-is-gif="false" data-post-id="1129824677" /><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7843343/bushfires-in-greece-um.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/b62701f2e6ec4bf6aa76d00c19998c81" /> This call to big business is significant While Prince Charles has been vocal about climate change before, this challenge to big business is a significant intervention from his previous actions. It comes in the wake of a stark report from the United Nations' panel on climate change earlier this month which warned of unprecedented global warming and which was described as a 'code red' moment for humanity. On 31st October to the 12 November, Britain will host <a rel="noopener" href="mailto:https://ukcop26.org/" target="_blank">COP26, the UN's climate change conference</a>, in Glasgow, which is seen by some as one of the last chances for major nations to agree an approach to prevent potentially catastrophic global warming. Prince Charles has been a pioneer in highlighting environmental issues. Last year, he launched the Sustainable Markets Initiative at the World Economic Forum in Davos in a bid to accelerate global progress on sustainability. The 'Terra Carta' is one of its flagship initiatives. It aims to provide a roadmap for businesses to move towards an ambitious and sustainable future by 2030. Its concept is based on the 1215 Magna Carta, and aimed at holding major companies accountable for helping to protect the planet. In today's article for the Daily Mail, the prince says we have been 'testing our world to destruction' and it is now up to all of us to get involved to combat climate change. The prince also made a significant private donation to the Hellenic Red Cross recently to help assist its humanitarian response to the residents of the fire-stricken areas in Greece. The prince opened his story in the Daily Mail with these words: Owing to family connections, I have always felt a particular fascination and affection for Greece. Apart from the allure of her landscapes, history and culture, both my father and grandfather were born there, which is why I was so touched to be invited earlier this year to celebrate the bicentenary of the country's independence. Now, five months later, it has been heartbreaking to see the devastating fires affecting Greece, Turkey, and now Italy which has just recorded Europe's highest ever temperature. And he ended his story with this heartfelt call to action: This is why COP26 is so crucially important for our very survival on this increasingly over-heating planet – something our children and grandchildren are rightly and deeply concerned about. The 'coalition of the willing' joins me in hoping that the conference will deliver the transformational decisions and the roadmap for change for which our planet is crying out. We now have no alternative – we have to do all we possibly can in the short time left to us to avoid the enormous climate catastrophe that has already begun to show its face in the most terrifying ways, most recently in the Mediterranean. World leaders, working closely with the private sector, have the power to make the difference. COP26 affords them an opportunity to do so before it is finally too late. Photo: Getty Images

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