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Four Corners: Megafires

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House engulfed in flames
Four Corners: Megafires

SUBJECTS:  Science

YEARS:  5–6, 9–10


Are we approaching the 'age of megafires'?

It might sound like something out of a sci-fi movie, but some scientists believe there is cause for concern. Watch this clip to find out how bushfires as we know them are changing. Discover why.


Things to think about

  1. 1.What do you think a megafire might be and how does it differ from a regular bushfire? What might create a megafire? How would firefighters tackle it?
  2. 2.Listen as the US megafire expert describes how the fire seasons are changing. In what three ways does he describe them as changing? What does the narrator say might lead to an age of megafires?
  3. 3.Explain what you know about bushfires and how they are changing around the world. Describe the reasons and consequences of this change, and what it might mean for us all if we truly are approaching an age of megafires. How might it impact your family and your community?
  4. 4.Use the internet to research the Black Saturday bushfires that devastated parts of Victoria in February 2009 or the 2003 Canberra fires. Find out what conditions led to such huge fires and why they have such an enormous impact on the landscape and communities in their path.


Acknowledgements

Image credit: 'fire.' Courtesy Tiago Cabral (Flickr)


Date of broadcast: 12 Mar 2007


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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