STORY: Hazard reduction burns increase severity of Australian bushfires: study
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 23, 2024
DATELINE: Jan. 24, 2024
LENGTH: 0:01:41
LOCATION: Canberra
CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENT

SHOTLIST:
1. various of prescribed burning during Australian bushfires

STORYLINE:

Prescribed burning programs aimed at reducing the impact of Australian bushfires are making forests more flammable, research has found.
   
In a study published on Monday, researchers from the Australian National University (ANU) and Curtin University called for a major rethink of Australia's fire prevention strategies.
   
Researchers, led by David Lindenmayer from ANU's Fenner School of Environment and Society, reviewed existing analyses of bushfires in Australia as well as Brazil, the United States and Spain, concluding that forests that had been thinned, logged or previously burned faced a higher risk of high-severity fires.
   
They found that logging and hazard reduction burns -- a common practice across Australia outside of fire seasons to reduce fuel loads -- can create more flammable environments by killing plants that are too tall to catch fire.
   
When those plants regrow from the ground they add to the fuel load for fires.
   
"We've understood for a long time now that logging can make bushfires worse, but it's only in the last few years that evidence is showing that prescribed burning could be doing the same thing," Lindenmayer said in a media release.
   
"We need to be thinking about forestry and fire management in a more holistic way and look to limit actions that could be increasing flammability."
   
Instead of hazard reduction burns, Lindenmayer said authorities should invest in rapid response fire fighting specialists and use drone technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) to detect and suppress fires faster.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Canberra.
(XHTV)