NEWS NOTES ON SUSTAINABLE WATER RESOURCESAustralia WildfiresThe hot and dry summer with little rainfall has been connected to the occurrence of ...
Published on by Tim Smith, Employee at Retiree & P/T Consultant
Australia Wildfires
The hot and dry summer with little rainfall has been connected to the occurrence of wildfires in Australia and other areas. A good summary of the conditions can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushfires_in_Australia
“Bushfires in Australia impact extensive areas and cause property damage and have accounted for the deaths of 800 people in Australia since 1851, and billions of animals. In January 2020, it was estimated that over 1.25 billion animals have died in the 2019-2020 Australian bushfire season alone.
Major firestorms that result in severe loss of life are often named based on the day on which they occur, such as Ash Wednesday and Black Saturday. Some of the most intense, extensive and deadly bushfires commonly occur during droughts and heat waves, such as the 2009 southeastern Australia heat wave, which precipitated the conditions during the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in which 180 people died. Other major conflagrations include the 1851 Black Thursday bushfires, the 2006 December bushfires and the ongoing 2019–20 bushfires.
Bushfires have always been a part of Australia's ecology and environment. Some of the country's native flora have evolved to rely on bushfires for reproduction and fire events have been an interwoven part of the ecology of the continent for thousands of years. Indigenous Australians used to use fire to clear grasslands for hunting and to clear tracks through dense vegetation; however this was only in periods of high rainfall and in very small grassland zones bordering desert.”
USGS has been able to aid in the compilation of data about the location and nature of the fires, not only in Australia but also in other areas, such as Tasmania. See the following for more information. https://www.usgs.gov/centers/eros/landsat-captures-images-australian-blazes?qt-science_support_page_related_con=0#qt-science_support_page_related_con
More information on sustainable water resources can be found here:
https://sites.google.com/site/sustainablewaterresources/