In the aftermath of witnessing some of the most destructive fires on record in the US, scientists are warning that things are only going to get harder in Australia, especially in tropical regions.
Known for their lush, damp climates, last week was an ominous warning that not even our rainforests are safe from fires, as a “frightening” bushfire tore through the subtropical region of Mackay in North Queensland.
It has been unbelievably dry here … the last few years we’re just not getting the rain and then, when we do, it’s often associated with a cyclone” local resident Michelle Ready told The Guardian.
“The only heat that’s come anywhere near it that I’ve experienced was in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt…it felt like opening a fan-forced oven. It was frightening.”
Firefighters in QLD battle the blaze in Mackay
Victoria and New South Wales are the main bushfire zones in Australia, but record breaking temperatures in the tropics, coupled with a lack of rain, is forcing residents to rethink what risks are posed by fires.
Two cyclones in two years, further evidence of climate change, has also prevented the tropical ecosystems from acting as a natural firebreak, due to the storms destroying the canopies which keep the forest floor shaded and moist.
Rainforests rely on the canopy to keep the floor moist and abate fire danger
Since late November more than 1 million hectares has been burnt in Queensland, much of which lies in the tropics.
Australian Conservation Foundation nature campaigner Andrew Piccone said that the future of plant, animal and insect species in the wet tropics lay in the balance as a result of changed conditions.
“If catastrophic fire conditions are going to burn the rainforest in Queensland, what that means for the future of the wet tropics world heritage area could be quite concerning,” he said.
Fire ecologist Philip Stewart noted that being mindful of the risks of living in a fire-prone area were of utmost importance for the coming fire seasons.
“We are a fire-prone country…we need to have an understanding of the danger of that and look at fighting fire with fire.”
Stewart noted that the effect of cyclone and fire’s could result in the rainforest taking decades “or event centuries” to recover.
Check out footage from the bushfires ravaging Queensland
