Bushfires in Australia – Burning Issues – Free PDF Download

Context

• Australia is witnessing widespread bushfires, and the country has declared a state of emergency for the state of New South Wales (NSW) along with a catastrophic fire warning.

• When catastrophic fire warnings are put in place, residents are supposed to leave bushfire prone areas immediately.
• Bushfires are a routine occurrence in the country.
• The Australian climate is hot, dry and prone to droughts.
• The above pattern now seems to be breaking down, and bushfires are happening outside the regular places and times.
• This bushfire season is believed to be the worst and has started even before the beginning of the Southern Hemisphere summer.

Causes

• These include factors such as fuel load (leaf litter, barks, small branches), fuel moisture, wind speeds, high temperature, oxygen, low humidity and ignition source.
• They can be caused by both human activity and lightning, which is responsible for about half of ignitions in Australia.

Climate change link 

• There are speculations about the links between climate change and bushfires.
• While the bushfires are not directly triggered by climate change, climate change is increasing the risk of more frequent and intense bushfires.

Categories

• Hilly/mountainous fires – burn in hilly, mountainous or alpine areas which are usually densely forested.
• Flat/grassland fires – burn along flat plains or areas of small undulation, predominantly covered in grasses or scrubland.
• Plants have evolveda variety of strategies to survive (or even require) bushfires, (possessing epicormic shootsor lignotubers that sprout after a fire, or developing fire-resistant or fire-triggered seeds) or even encourage fire (eucalypts contain flammable oils in the leaves) as a way to eliminate competition from less fire-tolerant species.[4]
• Some native animals are also adept at surviving bushfires
• Bushfires have accounted for over 800 deaths in Australia since 1851 and the total accumulated cost is estimated at $1.6 billion. In terms of monetary cost however, they rate behind the damage caused by drought, severe storms, hail, and cyclones, perhaps because they most commonly occur outside highly populated urban areas.

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