Bushfires threaten drinking water safety. The consequences could last for decades

Jan 08, 2020 11:53 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Bushfires pose serious short- and long-term impacts to public drinking water quality. They can damage water supply infrastructure and water catchments, impeding the treatment processes that normally make our water safe to...

A new way to identify a rare type of earthquake in time to issue lifesaving tsunami warnings

Jan 07, 2020 15:50 pm UTC| Nature

Just a few times in a century, somewhere on the globe, a rare tsunami earthquake occurs. These are mysterious because, while theyre just medium-sized as earthquakes go, they cause disproportionately large and devastating...

The story of a wave: from wind-blown ripples to breaking on the beach

Jan 07, 2020 15:37 pm UTC| Nature

Its a cliché, but Aussies love the beach. And little wonder: with 36,000 kilometres of coastline, Australia is blessed with some of the best beaches in the world. Around 20 million Australians live within 50...

Australia can expect far more fire catastrophes. A proper disaster plan is worth paying for

Jan 07, 2020 15:36 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Australia is in the midst of inconceivably bad bushfires. The death toll is rising, thousands of buildings have been destroyed and whole communities displaced. This scale is like nothing before, and our national response...

Koalas are the face of Australian tourism. What now after the fires?

Jan 07, 2020 15:33 pm UTC| Nature

In 1936, The Evening News in Rockhampton wrote: The time has arrived when Australians must decide whether or not they will accept responsibility for the perpetuation of the koala […] It seems extraordinary...

There's no evidence 'greenies' block bushfire hazard reduction but here's a controlled burn idea worth trying

Jan 07, 2020 15:32 pm UTC| Nature

The current bushfire crisis provides compelling evidence of the dangers posed by extremely dry landscapes and hot, windy conditions. While theres no evidence greenies precipitated the current crisis by blocking hazard...

How the extinction of ice age mammals may have forced us to invent civilisation

Jan 06, 2020 16:57 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Why did we take so long to invent civilisation? Modern Homo sapiens first evolved roughly 250,000 to 350,000 years ago. But initial steps towards civilisation harvesting, then domestication of crop plants began only...