Extreme events
Deconstructing disasters: Taking stock on where we are now, and dreaming our future
Australia and the world are facing multiple, successive, widespread disruptions which can lead to catastrophic disaster. A ‘Deconstructing Disasters’ approach can help us to build more resilience in our systems.
Building resilience in the wake of a disaster
We Aussies like to think we’re resilient, but knowing what that looks like at a time of unprecedented challenge takes more than national pride – it takes good science.
Day Zero and pathways to water security for regional towns
Day Zero marks the day when residential taps are turned off — a reality for some regional and rural towns across Australia. When this current drought breaks, we can’t lose sight of the fact that another drought will inevitably come. We have to prepare for water security now.
Bushfires and climate change Q&A with Dr Michael Grose
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.
A dry landscape and a dire season: we explain the current bushfire environment
Sydney and New South Wales (NSW) north coast residents continue to battle poor air quality as a result of fires burning through the state. Our bushfire expert Andrew Sullivan delves beyond the smoke haze to explain the current crisis and the tough conditions ahead.
Climate change and extreme events – quantifying the changing odds
The field of climate change event attribution research has emerged recently and can provide new insights into Australian climate extremes.
When disasters collide: helping Australia adapt to new risks under climate change
A collision of severe weather events can destroy lives and infrastructure, destabilising economies and ecosystems. In a rapidly warming world the frequency and magnitude of these compound events will only increase, according to the latest report from the IPCC.
International environment prize for resilience research
Dr Brian Walker received the Blue Planet Award in Tokyo for his work at the forefront of the interdisciplinary area of resilience of complex adaptive systems. With drought, typhoons, earthquakes and tsunamis all in our region, the award is timely.
Island nation leads the way in climate resilience
Salamo Fulivai reads the nightly news in Tonga but when Tropical Cylcone Gita arrived it was more than a story. Fortunately, forewarned is forearmed. Just months earlier Salamo had been part of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction training.