Coronavirus (Covid-19) is the latest in a series of diseases transmitted to humans from wild animals in recent years. Fellow diseases including Ebola, SARS, Zika and MERS have also terrorised countries around the world, and their emergence stems from complex interactions among wild and/or domestic animals and humans.

Australia is in the midst of an unfolding extreme bushfire season, with far-reaching impacts for many communities across the nation, particularly in the southern and eastern areas. We wanted to check in with one of CSIRO’s senior climate researchers, Dr Michael Grose, to understand how extreme events like bushfires are linked to climate change, and where science leads to certainty in our understanding and where there are more research questions to be explored.

Kangaroo Island’s Glossy Black-Cockatoos are at risk due to the Australian bushfires. What are the issues?