Fire has played a critical role in the evolution of the Australian landscape. It can be used to manage landscapes, and indeed has been used by our First Nations Peoples for tens of thousands of years to do just that through cultural burning practices. It can also be devastating when disaster-scale bushfires occur in an area.
A fire regime refers to the pattern of fire for an area, based on frequency (how often fires occur), intensity (how hot the fire burns), seasonality (time of the year when fires occur), and patchiness of the fire.
Certain fire regimes, and their interactions with other processes (such as drought, climate change, invasive species, disease and human activities), have been identified as a threat to a wide range of threatened native species and ecological communities.
As the climate changes, we are already starting to see an increase in extreme fire events. Uncontrolled bushfires can have devastating effects on life, homes, businesses, infrastructure and the environment. The 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires were shocking and unprecedented, taking the lives of 33 people and destroying over 3,000 homes. The fires burned over 18.7 million hectares of land, killing hundreds of millions of animals and releasing hundreds of million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions into the atmosphere. Needless to say, all of this destruction comes at a huge economic cost.
Bushfires produce large amounts of smoke and fine particles which reduce air quality and directly threaten the health of humans and animals. Ash from fires can be blown into backyards and public open areas and washed into our creeks and rivers, impacting water quality and drinking water supplies.
Beyond the physical harm, many people suffer long-lasting mental trauma due to the experience of having to evacuate and losing their home, pets, belongings, livestock or other livelihoods.
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