On abc.net.au:
From right click/ View Page Info/ Updated time: 2015-12-11T10:18:03+1100
Most bushfires in south-eastern Australia caused by humans
Bushfires with a known cause:
- 47 per cent accidental (cigarettes, burn-offs, campfires, sparks from machinery, powerlines)
- 40 per cent deliberately lit
- 13 per cent lightning
The vast majority of bushfires in south-eastern Australia are caused by humans, a new (2015!) study suggests.
Research published in a recent issue of the International Journal of Wildland Fire has found that the density of human populations can explain the pattern of fires ignited in New South Wales and Victoria.
"The higher the population density the more ignitions you get," said lead author Kathryn Collins of the University of Wollongong's Centre for Environmental Risk Management of Bushfires.
Read more on abc.net.au:
Most bushfires in south-eastern Australia caused by humans
On abc.net.au:
From right click/ View Page Info/ updated time: 2020-01-08T10:07:48+1100
Australia's frogs, reptiles and invertebrates are at risk of extinction from bushfires too
Several Australian animals could be pushed to the brink of extinction by the current bushfire crisis, including critters you probably haven't heard of before.
Australia could lose multiple species as a direct result of the fires — and even after the flames die down, loss of habitat and food will be an ongoing issue.
The glossy black cockatoos on Kangaroo Island have, so far, survived (two-thirds of the island remains unburnt), but the future of the Kangaroo Island dunnart is looking bleak after its entire known range was burned in the last week.
Mammals and birds like these are probably the creatures that many of us will notice missing from our bushland, and are also the most confronting to see hurt or killed. But Australia's unique amphibians, reptiles and invertebrates are also in danger...
There are concerns for a group of skinks living in alpine areas of New South Wales and Victoria. These skinks are unique because they grow a placenta and give birth to live young — something usually associated only with mammals....
Read more:
Tiny lizards, frogs and worms: Meet the hidden bushfire victims
Baldivis bushfire near Kwinana Freeway under control but Perth suburbs not out of danger yet
On abc.net.au:
Man felt physically ill when he realised boat trailer sparked bushfire across Perth's south
On quora.com:
What are the main reason of bushfire in Australia?
Nancy Dills, Self-employed/retired (1974-present)
Answered Jan 9, 2020 · Author has 2.5k answers and 642.5k answer views ...
Apparently more than 180 people who set fires deliberately or were careless in how they disposed of cigarette butts, etc.
That, and the hottest and driest season they’ve ever had recorded. No rain since September. Away from the coast, Australia is a semi-desert over much of the continent. And with a population spread so thinly outside the cities, there isn’t enough manpower and equipment and water supply readily available to fight these huge brush fires.
Oliver Holland, former Firefighter Retired
Answered Jan 6, 2020 · Author has 194 answers and 29.6k answer views
Although nearly all of Australia is fire prone, the area causing problems is in the SE quadrant. This is called the SE flume. It starts just N of Brisbane as a narrow coastal strip between the Pacific Ocean & the Great Dividing Range. It proceeds south getting wider as it does, it includes about two thirds of Victoria & runs out in the Adelaide Hills in South Australia. This is why Victoria, occupying just 12% of the Australian landmass has experienced 80% of the bushfire loss. This corner is where most of the people live & this is where most of the bushfire loss has occurred since European settlement. This is the area of highest & most dependable rainfall & is never far from the sea. Australians don’t like to get far from salt water. What is the problem? In one word, “Eucalyptus.” Eucalyptus is pyrophoric, it wants to burn. It flourishes in a fire regime. It has special features which enable to survive fire & recover. It competes with its opposition by raining tons & tons of combustible debris on it. It burns its neighbours out. Whether this includes other plant species or its own too numerous offspring or some pesky homo sapiens trying to muscle in on its domain makes no difference to it. Let me tell you about Eucalyptus wood. In the Northern Hemisphere people burn pine in their fires. The clean burning qualities of Eucalyptus & its thermal capacity is such that in Australia people hold pine in contempt as a fire fuel. Eucalyptus didn’t always dominate the Australian environment, but when humans moved in, introduced fire & exterminated the megafauna who ate the hard cellulose (controversial this point) Eucalyptus soon came to dominate the environment. That now meant that man had to take over the fuel management, the Aborigines regularly & constantly burned the country. Their intent was to produce an open forest of widely spaced trees allowing for the growth & regeneration of the tussock grasses on which kangaroos fed. It has been called firestick farming. When Cook sailed up the E Coast in 1770 he saw so much smoke that he wondered if it might be a volcanic coast. He soon realised that it was natives doing seasonal burning. The early settlers in Sydney, C:1788 found that they could gallop a horse from Sydney to Parramatta (all now in the greater Sydney area) through what they called “the woods.” They described it as resembling a gentleman’s park. When they began to push inland with sheep, they thought the grasslands they found there was the gift of God. Actually it was the gift of the Aborigines. Some would paint the Aborigines as veritable sable scientists. I don’t think they were. They were following a traditional practice which had been found to work for them & if there was enough fuel to carry a fire, they lit it up. It was noted that if they set the bush on fire for hunting purposes they made no attempt to extinguish it. ...
Ian Robinson
Answered Nov 26, 2019 · Author has 261 answers and 25k answer views
There are many reasons. of course, but the Main Reason is human stupidity and negligence. 85% of bushfires in Australia are caused by humans, and of those, 10–15% are deliberately lit.
So humans are mainly responsible for their ignition. They are also mainly responsible for their severity, through poor land management. Before Europeans came here, the Aboriginals knew how to avoid bushfires by careful controlled burning off of different areas at different times. Bushfire were virtually unknown before European settlement. We need to utilise this indigenous knowledge in the future....
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What are the main reason of bushfire in Australia? - Quora
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