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Federal Scale
Climate Change
Government Climate Policy
Climate Change is an issue that has struck the whole world. The Australian Government is unfortunately infamous for now having adequate climate policy and being overly sympathetic to pollution caused by coal. The image on the right shows Prime Minister Morrison bringing coal into Parliament exclaiming "This is coal...Don't be afraid!" Most people however were not afraid but rather confused and bewildered by his rhetoric. The unfortunate truth is that Climate Change has a huge impact on the severity of bushfires in Australia. The federal government leading up to the bushfires should've been stronger in their climate policy.
Graph 1: BBC
Graph 2: NASA | Solar Irradience vs Temperature
The Facts of Climate Change
From graph 1 on the top-left we can observe that Australia has been getting warmer. The year 2019 was the hottest year on record, and from analysing the trend we can observe that the country is getting hotter each year. This directly reflects an increase in CO2 emmissions. This is further supported by graph 2 from NASA which confirms that whilst solar irradience has remained relatively stable, global temperature is on an up trend. Regarding the relation of Climate Change and the 2019/2020 Bushfires, The Australian Climate Council made the following conclusions:
From the conclusions drawn for
The Australian Climate Council it can be drawn that
on a federal level there was a neglect in addressing the
issues of Climate Change in Australia. The effects of Climate
Change aren't going to be going away either, meaning that it
is urgent that the government takes action to prevent a future
bushfire catostraphe of the same calibre.
Graph 3
also shows that Climate Change did effect the Bushfires
greatly as observed by significantly lower rainfall accross
the country. Less rain significantly effects the severity of
bushfires across the country as fuel is drier, thus easier to
burn.
A study from
The Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences concluded that "climate change has made a hot week like the one in
December 2019 more likely by at
least a factor of two"
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Graph 3 | The Climate Council
Greg Mullins | ABC News
Government Negligence
Many different sources accuse the government of ignoring the
issues and brushing them off. Former NSW Fire Chief Greg
Mullins, felt the Fire Department was "fobbed off by the federal government." Greg Mullins was also the head of the
Emergency Leaders for Climate Action, and sought after a meeting with Scott Morrison to discuss
urgent threats, however the PM's office did not collaborate
very well. As the bushfires unfolded Morrison claimed "he didn’t need to hear from former chiefs as the government
could hear from the current ones."(The Guardian). The meeting request became a game of
pass-the-parcel and Mullins was only able to get a meeting in
October, which many argue is way to late.
The deputy Prime Minister also stated told them that, "we
were time-wasters and that those who talked about climate
change and bushfires were latte-sipping greenies." These comments in particular raise serious concerns and have
damaged public trust in the government.
Mullin also
cliams that there is inadequate funding from the federal
government to backburn saying
"Fuel reduction burning is being constrained by a shortage
of resources in some states and territories"
State Scale
Rural Fire Service | Fire Danger Rating
Precautions Taken
Fire Danger Ratings
As a precaution/warning system NSW adopted a Fire Danger Rating system. When travelling around NSW, especially in rural areas you can see the Fire Danger Rating, which is frequently updated. The Danger Rating allows homeowners, business owners and residents to take the necessary precautions and prevent major loss of life and property. The scale ranges from low to catastrophic. The graphic below outlines the official RFS NSW, advice for each danger rating.
New South Wales Rural Fire Service | Fire Danger Ratings
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Hazard Reduction Burning
Hazard Reduction Fires, also known as Backburning are carried
out by the New South Wales Government as part of their
preparations for the bushfire season. Hazard Reduction is the
process of pre-empively burning trees and other potential
fuels. By burning these fuels when the fire reaches the area,
it will stop burning as there is no fuel to burn/feed the
fire. However Hazard Reduction Fires are very sensitive, if
wind levels are too high then the fire can get out of control
and there is a high risk of starting a bushfire.
Less Back Burning In 2019/2020
In 2019/2020 many people claim there was not a sufficient
level of Hazard Reduction burns.
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro stated "We've got to do better and I know that we don't do enough
hazard reduction." Being more vigilant around back burning could have helped
reduce the impacts of the fires on a state level. Barilaro
also went on to blame the Greens for the reduction in Back Burning.
Local | Kangaroo Valley
Figure 1 | Cool Burning
Figure 2 | Hot Burning Aka Standard Methods
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Local Precautions and Preperation
Indigeonous Fire Control | Cool Burning
Cool Burning is a method that has been used by the Indigeonous
Australians. Very often people forget that they lived in this
country for 40 000+ years and have been managing fires in that
time. By adopting some of their practises we can collaborate
to manage fires in the fire season.
According to
the Indigeonous expertise a large part of back burning is
knowing when is the right time to back burn/cool burn. To
figure this out the Indigenouse use signs in the land such as
when vegetation begins to dry and the winds change however
different land is required to be burnt at different times. The
timing of cultural burning(same as cool burning) is crucial to
its success as if you burn too early shrubs sprout up which
means the bushfires have a very good fuel source and if you
burn too late then the backburning itself can get out of
control. However if backburning commences in the goldilocks
zone it works well as the wind keeps the fire controlled and
the fuel is burnt up by the time the wildfires come. The
Indigeonous also timed it a times when plants released their
flammable oils, so that they can control the fire size.
Cool
burning is an incredibly scientifically credible method of
burning as it utilises a sophisticated understanding of the
land and of how fire works, particularly the fire triangle.
Cool burning is very clever in how utilises a good knowledge
of the climate along with a great knowledge of the land and
fire. Some examples of this is, their utilisation of the wind
to control the fire spread and their utilisation of cooler
weather in order to save the land from ‘cooking’ and killing
all of the nutrients and seeds. They also use cool burning to
make sure that animals have time to escape from the fire
region. The sophistication of this method allows for minnimum
damage and healthy recovery.
Figure 1: Shows the land just a couple of weeks after cool
burning, from the picture we can see how well the land
recovers as well as how well native flora pops up again. In
the Kangaroo Valley coolburning is used by local communities
as a method of fire control however in Australia we mainly
use conventional back burning.
Figure 2: Shows the land a few weeks after a hot burn, a
hot burn is where a fire is lit at day time and is left to
grow and is then put out by humans. Hot Burning is the main
way that the Government backburns currently. This image
shows how destructive hot burning is as in the photo you can
not see any flora or fauna and everything looks dead void of
life, you can also see how dy the ground is as all of its
nutrients have been ‘cooked’ meaning that it is hard for
flora to grow as there is a severe lack of nutrients. This
shows the damage that hot burning causes to our
environment.
During this time local communities
came together to develop Bushfire Plans and to assist one
another with resources and monetary aid.
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