Fire safety

Australia's fires could change the country forever

Wildfires are a part of the natural rhythms of Australia’s environment. But scientists haven’t seen anything like this before.

The country is grappling with some of the worst wildfires in its history. At least 12 million acres of land have already been scorched and more than 100 blazes are still active — and the season has yet to reach its peak.

The blazes threaten to reshape Australia’s ecology even in places where plants and animals have adapted to yearly fires.

“If species are adapted to one set of climatic conditions and are now being forced to regenerate in climatic conditions that are very different, it’s going to be a lot harder to come back,” said Camille Stevens-Rumann, an ecologist at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, who focuses her research on how ecosystems recover after major disturbances.