Australia fires: Similar or worse disasters 'will happen again' (excerpt): BBC

Wildfire: Australia should expect "worse" in the years to come

"An inquiry into the recent massive bushfire disaster in Australia has found the country should expect "worse" in the years to come.

 

The review - which looked at New South Wales (NSW), the worst-hit state - made sweeping proposals aimed at better preparing for future fire seasons.

 

The blazes began last August and burned for months, killing 33 people nationally and scorching vast areas.

 

The NSW state government said it would adopt the inquiry's 76 recommendations.

 

The "extreme and extremely unusual" bushfires destroyed 2,476

Fires caused by climate change

houses and 5.5 million hectares of land in that state alone, according to the NSW Bushfire Inquiry report.

 

"It showed us bushfires through forested regions on a scale that we have not seen in Australia in recorded history, and fire behaviour that took even experienced firefighters by surprise."

 

The main causes were a drought which had made the land extremely dry and ready to burn, hot and windy weather, and climate change.

 

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Tuesday: "The next fire season is already upon us."

 

As deadly fires rage in the US summer in California, NSW has seen winter blazes this month - though none have posed a significant threat.

What did the report recommend?

Californian wildfires are also caused by climate change

It made far-reaching proposals, including:

• ordering residents in at-risk areas to conduct compulsory land-clearing
• better aerial firefighting strategies, including more water-bombing at night
• drawing on more Aboriginal land management techniques, such as cultural burning
• allowing firefighters to enter private properties to start controlled burns on materials which fuel fires
• improving alert systems for bushfire smoke, and research into its health impacts
• making government agencies more efficient and auditing their progress.

"Ms Berejiklian said: 'We have to accept also that our climate is changing and those who wrote the report acknowledge that.' "

 

Go to BBC article 

 

Related: The Observer view on the climate catastrophe facing Earth : The Guardian

 

 

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Parents Share Emotional Bushfire Stories from Australian Black Summer 2019-20: Video

Australian Parents for Climate Action

Australian parents share heartbreaking experiences from the 2019-20 Black Summer, and demand government climate action to protect our children. 

 

 Ask your elected reps to support climate-positive COVID-19 recovery projects: www.ap4ca.org/the_covid_recovery 

 

Read our bushfire inquiry submissions: www.ap4ca.org/bushfires

 

See also: Preparing for catastrophic fire seasons

Ex-fire bosses say climate change must be key in bushfire royal commission: SBS

wildfire

Australia's alliance of former emergency services chiefs has warned Prime Minister Scott Morrison that a bushfires royal commission will fail unless it focuses on climate change.

The Emergency Leaders for Climate Action group has written to Mr Morrison noting that it sees "little value" in a federal inquiry but concedes one will likely go ahead.

Former Fire and Rescue NSW Commissioner Greg Mullins says it is abundantly clear increased temperatures and extreme weather driven by climate change set the scene for NSW and Queensland's "worst fires" in history.

READ MORE

#jailclimatecriminals #climatechange  #globalwarming

The facts about bushfires and climate change: Climate Council

The following excerpt is taken from a new Climate Council briefing paper titled This Is Not Normal, which finds the catastrophic bushfire conditions affecting NSW and Queensland have been aggravated by climate change. To read the briefing paper in full, click here.

This is not normal. As we write, New South Wales and Queensland have declared a state of emergency. There are also fires in South Australia and Western Australia. For the first time catastrophic bushfire conditions have been declared for Greater Sydney. Climate change has worsened the catastrophic bushfire conditions. The nature of bushfires in Australia has changed.
Bushfire conditions are now more dangerous than in the past, and the risk to people and property has increased. For well over 20 years, scientists have warned that climate change would increase the risk of extreme bushfires in Australia. This warning was accurate. Scientists expect extreme fire weather will continue to become more frequent and severe without substantial and rapid action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Key Findings

1. The catastrophic, unprecedented fire conditions currently affecting NSW and Queensland have been aggravated by climate change. Bushfire risk was exacerbated by record breaking drought, very dry fuels and soils, and record breaking heat.
   Bushfire conditions are now more dangerous than in the past. The risks to people and property have increased and fire seasons have lengthened. It is becoming more dangerous to fight fires in Australia.
2.  
   The fire season has lengthened so substantially that it has already reduced opportunities for fuel reduction burning. This means it is harder to prepare for worsening conditions.
3.  
   The costs of fighting fires are increasing. Australia relies on resource sharing arrangements between countries and states and territories within Australia. As seasons overlap and fires become more destructive, governments will be increasingly constrained in their ability to share resources and the costs of tackling fires will increase.
4.  
   The government must develop an urgent plan to (1) prepare Australian communities, health and emergency services for escalating fire danger; and (2) rapidly phase out the burning of coal oil and gas which is driving more dangerous fires.

Read the complete Climate Council article

Former fire chiefs demand urgent action on 'escalating climate change threat': SBS

"Twenty-three of Australia’s most senior former emergency service bosses have come together in an unprecedented show of unity, calling on the Prime Minister to 'get on with the job' of reducing greenhouse gasses. 

Longer bushfire seasons, ‘dry’ lightning storms, increased flooding and higher rates of anxiety: this is Australia’s future without immediate action on climate change, some of Australia’s most senior former emergency service chiefs have warned.

In an unprecedented joint statement directed to the state and federal governments, 23 former emergency service bosses have come together on Wednesday to call for stronger action on climate change, which they believe is threatening lives in Australia.

The 23 signatories, representing every state and territory, have called on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to commit to a parliamentary inquiry into whether the emergency services are fit to defend Australia against the increasing risk of natural disasters."

Go to complete SBS article 

Related: 

Time to rethink Australia's fire fighting resources.