Climate change is increasing the extent and severity of wildfires around the world.
Climate change is increasing the extent and severity of wildfires around the world. Megafires like Australia's 2019/20 Black Summer fires represent an emerging threat to estuarine and coastal ecosystems, with the extent and proximity of the wildfire influencing the impact on estuaries.
Sydney researchers have explored the impact of bushfires on estuaries in New South Wales, finding fires can increase the load of fire-derived pollutants with potentially profound environmental effects.
Estuaries (where the river meets the sea) are some of the most valuable habitats on earth. As well as being biologically diverse and productive places, they are where ports are located, and a significant portion of the world’s population is concentrated.
Published today in the journal Environmental Pollution, the researchers say their findings prompt a call for riverside vegetation to be prioritised for protection in fire management plans, and for bushfires to be considered in catchment management plans. These plans are developed to protect the environment and regulate resources, such as fish and water, from the whole catchment area (from tributaries to estuaries).
Read more at University of Sydney
Image: The burnt zone reaches all the way to the edge of the water at Clyde River/Batemans Bay. (Photo credit: John Turnbull)
