Australia Resilience System Working Group

ADELAIDE HILLS - MFS fire crews fight a bushfire on Wattle Road in Kersbrook, on January 2, 2015 in Adelaide Hills, Australia. (Photo by Campbell Brodie/Newspix/Getty Images)

cnn.com - by Leah Asmelash - January 12, 2020

The fires in Australia have been burning for months, consuming nearly 18 million acres of land, causing thousands to evacuate and killing potentially millions of animals . . .

 . . . The Australian state of New South Wales, where both Sydney and Canberra are located, declared a state of emergency this week, as worsening weather conditions could lead to even greater fire danger.

But a 50,000-year-old solution could exist: Aboriginal burning practices.

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A man helping strangers remove flood-damaged items from their home in a suburb of Townsville, in the Australian state of Queensland, on Thursday.  Credit Dan Peled/EPA, via Shutterstock

nytimes.com - by Livia Albeck-Ripka - February 7, 2019

. . . Community support is the biggest predictor of how well people recover from disasters, “over and above the horrors of the trauma” . . .

As climate change makes it likely that disasters will become more intense and frequent, researchers are studying how communities respond, and what they need to be resilient. Being part of a community response can be “protective” . . .

. . . the real danger zone is six to 12 months after a disaster strikes. It is then, experts agree, when the news coverage fades and others seem to move on, that residents who are still struggling with practical issues, like insurance claims, and emotional trauma, can feel abandoned.

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Barnards after cyclone Larry. Image: AIMS Long-term Monitoring Team.

Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS)
October 2, 2012

Can we save the Reef by controlling crown of thorns starfish?

(ABSTRACT AND LINK TO STUDY - BELOW)

The Great Barrier Reef has lost half its coral cover in the last 27 years. The loss was due to storm damage (48%), crown of thorns starfish (42%), and bleaching (10%) according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences today by researchers from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) in Townsville and the University of Wollongong.

"We can't stop the storms but, perhaps we can stop the starfish. If we can, then the Reef will have more opportunity to adapt to the challenges of rising sea temperatures and ocean acidification", says John Gunn, CEO of AIMS.