The Black Summer bushfires burned far more temperate forest than any other fire season recorded in Australia. The disaster was clearly a climate change event; however, other human activities also had consequences.
Taking timber from forests dramatically changes their structure, making them more vulnerable to bushfires. And, crucially for the Black Summer bushfires, logged forests are more likely to burn out of control.
Naturally, the drivers of the fires were widely debated during and after the disaster. Research published earlier this month, for example, claimed native forest logging did not make the fires worse.
We believe these findings are too narrowly focused and in fact, misleading. They overlook a vast body of evidence that crown fire – the most extreme type of bushfire behaviour, in which tree canopies burn – is more likely in logged native forests.
Native forest logging makes bushfires worse - and to say otherwise ignores facts miragenews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from miragenews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
âAll bets are offâ: Fire weather trumps forestry, prescribed burning
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Weather conditions were so extreme and landscapes so dry during the Black Summer bushfires that normal fire mitigation practices such as forestry management or hazard reduction burns had little impact on the devastation caused.
The fires ripped through landscapes with similar ferocity whether they were national parks, state forests or privately held, research published on Tuesday in
Nature Ecology & Evolution journal shows.
The view from a fire truck walled in by flames south of Nowra during the Black Summer bushfires.
2020 in review: The best and worst news stories of the year dailytelegraph.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailytelegraph.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.