Battling a summer of wildfires
It has become a much-feared feature of the Australian summer, but now other countries are tapping into our nation's firefighting experience.
The wave of dry conditions and unstable weather patterns causing destructive wildfires in the Northern Hemisphere have also reignited climate debate.
Here in Australia we’ve endured our own previously inconceivable fire fronts, and the original catalyst for us to create The Zero Planet was, in fact, the 2019/20 fire season that ravaged huge parts of our east coast.
The BBC reports that as some countries confront extreme fire conditions for the very first time, Australia may serve as a source of expertise in fire detection and suppression as well as adaptation strategies such as indigenous cultural burning. A recent article in The Conversation also tackles this topic as Australia continues to shore up its own defences against this catastrophic seasonal threat.
And here is some additional reading for those interested in emerging (and ancient) solutions for battling and preventing wildfires in Australia and beyond, compiled by The Zero Planet earlier this year.
So, are widespread disasters like wildfires likely to result in stronger community action?
Well, it depends on what you read and watch.
Forging a strong connection between our continued reliance on fossil fuels and climate disasters is the critical step towards mobilising action, say climate campaigners. But not all media outlets are connecting the dots between extreme climate events and their cause.
