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Posted: Wednesday 28 January 2009 (Updated Thu 29 Jan at 11.45am AEDT)

ONLINE MEDIA BRIEFING: Are we underprepared for the bushfire threat?

ONLINE BACKGROUND BRIEFING – Thursday 29 Jan at 10:30am AEDT online

BRIEFING DETAILS:
DATE: Thu 29 January 2009
START TIME: 10.30am AEDT
DURATION: 40 min
VENUE: Online

As the mercury soars into the 40s this week in southern Australia, the risk of bushfires is high. But experts warn that today’s knowledge and practices on bushfire management will not meet the needs of the community in coming decades.

Climate change and drought are altering the nature, ferocity and duration of bushfires, and while the right type of fire can contribute to a healthy and diverse environment, research is telling us that the wrong type of fire – too hot or too frequent – can affect the amount of water in our rivers and the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere.

These issues are further compounded by the expanding rural-urban fringe creating increasing numbers of people living in higher risk areas that are ignorant of the bushfire threat – either because they don’t consider their homes to be in a bushfire zone or they underestimate the risk.

Join the Bushfire Co-operative Research Centre (CRC) and Australian Science Media Centre to hear from leading bushfire experts on the changing bushfire risks.

SPEAKERS:

Gary Morgan is CEO of the Bushfire CRC
Listen to Gary (mp3) | view presentation (pdf)
Professor John Handmer, Program Leader Community Self Sufficiency for Fire Safety, Bushfire CRC, RMIT University, Melbourne
Listen to John (mp3) | view presentation (pdf)
Professor Mark Adams, Program Leader Fire in the Landscape, Bushfire CRC, University of Sydney
Listen to Mark (mp3) | view presentation (pdf)
Listen to the Q and A session (mp3)


Watch the event in full now by clicking here (Webex)

For further information, please contact the AusSMC on 08 8207 7415 or email us.


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