Extreme events

Before the storm

Counting the costs of physical damage wrought by Cyclone Debbie in Queensland and subsequent floods in northern NSW has already begun. The focus now shifts to how communities invest in infrastructure before the storms. Critical is understanding the multiple impacts and the interdependence of infrastructure.

Spotting the danger of long-distance firebrands

New understanding about the behaviour of 'firebrands’ from ribbon bark eucalypts suggests a change in thinking may be needed to fight fires in extreme conditions.

What Wye River can teach us about building for bushfires

The devastating bushfire that tore through Wye River in 2015 has shown us that resilience to bushfires is about more than just building regulations.

Learning from 100 years of bushfire loss data

Historical data on bushfire losses reveals sobering insight about the human response to catastrophic bushfire conditions, and why our current approach is set to fail.

A spark of hope in predicting bushfire behaviour

The pressure is on to predict where bushfires will start, how fast they’ll spread and which path they’ll take. CSIRO's ‘Spark’ simulation toolkit could be a game-changer.

Designing resilient buildings

New guidelines for designing buildings that are resilient to earthquakes, typhoons and storm surges could save lives and livelihoods in the Philippines.

Tackling climate change and regional security in the Pacific

We need to identify Pacific hotspots where climate change will exacerbate other stresses and act to support these places before a crisis happens.

A new climate adaptation landscape

Editorial: Understanding and managing the emergent risks of climate change requires a new focus for mitigation and adaptation responses.

Safety among the gum trees for Wye River

Our leading bushfire risk expert Justin Leonard has been working with the community and a wider Advisory Panel to develop a set of voluntary guidelines that will help improve the townships resilience to bushfire.