WEBVTT - Lab 022: This is NOT a Drill 0:00:01.280 --> 0:00:03.720 There have been three things that I've seen tumbling down 0:00:03.720 --> 0:00:05.320 the timeline in the past couple of days. 0:00:05.800 --> 0:00:07.760 First is the Ivy parking Adida's collaboration. 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:10.080 Yes, have you gotten anything? Were you able to? 0:00:10.360 --> 0:00:10.520 No? 0:00:10.760 --> 0:00:12.440 I thought I could at least get a pair of socks. 0:00:12.520 --> 0:00:16.040 I was able to snag a sweatshirt, which I was shocked. 0:00:16.079 --> 0:00:17.919 Why'd you buy a sweatshirt? You know, Beyonce, gon send 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:18.360 you a box. 0:00:18.400 --> 0:00:19.840 I know, I'm just still waiting for it. I don't 0:00:19.840 --> 0:00:22.239 know it's taking so long. Well, Junie Ambrose got hers. 0:00:22.320 --> 0:00:26.480 Junie Ambrose got hers and slay that Liza. I was like, 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:30.440 this is the best Beyonce Ivy park try on of 0:00:30.480 --> 0:00:33.160 all time. I'll link to it in the show notes 0:00:33.159 --> 0:00:34.800 because it's just amazing it is. 0:00:35.040 --> 0:00:35.800 What's the second thing? 0:00:36.000 --> 0:00:39.159 The second thing is those things on Instagram that you 0:00:39.200 --> 0:00:42.239 can set It shows you like what Disney character are you? 0:00:43.240 --> 0:00:45.640 What Harry Potter House are you? What's your next vacation? 0:00:45.880 --> 0:00:48.520 And it and you do all everybody's been doing them. Okay, 0:00:48.640 --> 0:00:52.040 I've done probably like fifty fifty at least. 0:00:52.720 --> 0:00:54.560 Man, that's a lot. I look at that. 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:56.440 I don't want to do them because I don't want 0:00:56.440 --> 0:00:59.720 anybody to assign me the wrong character, and then I'm 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:01.600 gonna be and can you do it over again? You 0:01:01.600 --> 0:01:03.560 can do it over and decide when you're going to record. 0:01:03.640 --> 0:01:05.200 You can record and then delete it. 0:01:05.240 --> 0:01:07.480 I can't delete the data. 0:01:08.040 --> 0:01:11.040 I'm TT and I'm Zakijah and from Spotify Studios. 0:01:11.080 --> 0:01:21.760 This is Dope Labs. 0:01:27.560 --> 0:01:28.400 What's the third thing? 0:01:28.760 --> 0:01:33.360 Third thing is everything fire related in Australia. 0:01:33.520 --> 0:01:34.280 Oh my gosh. 0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:35.360 Yes, have you. 0:01:35.400 --> 0:01:37.679 Seen the videos of the animals running from the fire 0:01:37.720 --> 0:01:38.720 and people helping them? 0:01:38.760 --> 0:01:42.080 It is awful. Is awful all the destruction that it's causing. 0:01:42.160 --> 0:01:44.920 There have been people that have died, there's you know, 0:01:45.040 --> 0:01:47.840 thousands of homes that have been lost. Yeah, it's just 0:01:48.200 --> 0:01:49.040 awful to see. 0:01:49.400 --> 0:01:51.800 And it taught me, like, even looking at some of 0:01:51.800 --> 0:01:55.200 the information that's being spread, I realized I don't know 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:58.120 enough about a Australia and B fire. 0:01:58.400 --> 0:01:59.920 Yeah, and so I think we should jump into this. 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:02.800 I think so too, because there's a lot to be learned. 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:06.720 So this episode we're talking about the Australian fires. We're 0:02:06.720 --> 0:02:09.520 going to give you a broad overview of what's been happening, 0:02:10.240 --> 0:02:13.359 what caused the fires, and what we need to think 0:02:13.400 --> 0:02:16.240 about to prevent things like this happening in the future. 0:02:16.320 --> 0:02:18.880 So let's get into the recitation, all. 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:20.680 Right, what do we know TT I know that there 0:02:20.760 --> 0:02:23.880 was a lot of destruction. There were a lot of fires. 0:02:24.320 --> 0:02:26.200 I don't know if it was one single fire or 0:02:26.320 --> 0:02:29.639 multiple fires, but I know that it was mass fire destruction. 0:02:29.880 --> 0:02:32.000 Another thing that we do know is that a lot 0:02:32.040 --> 0:02:37.000 of scientists are linking these fires to climate change, and 0:02:37.280 --> 0:02:41.080 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAH, they just 0:02:41.160 --> 0:02:44.560 released their finding saying that twenty nineteen was the second 0:02:44.680 --> 0:02:48.600 hottest year on records, and they have a long record exactly, 0:02:48.919 --> 0:02:52.679 and so twenty nineteen was only second to twenty sixteen. 0:02:52.720 --> 0:02:55.920 So in the last five years, we've put up the 0:02:55.960 --> 0:02:59.120 hottest the two hottest year, the two hottest years on record. 0:02:59.320 --> 0:03:00.560 But what do we want want to know? 0:03:00.919 --> 0:03:05.120 I want to know how these fires actually started, because 0:03:05.160 --> 0:03:08.799 there are a number of ways that fires can start, right, 0:03:08.919 --> 0:03:10.920 But I want to know who is the culprit. 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:12.120 TZ wants to know who did it? 0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:16.040 Yes, find that person, or it could be other things. 0:03:16.040 --> 0:03:18.080 It might not be a person, it could be. 0:03:18.040 --> 0:03:20.079 Other factors, other factors. I think. 0:03:20.120 --> 0:03:23.400 The other thing that I want to know is exactly, 0:03:24.080 --> 0:03:27.960 like what are the links between fire and climate change? 0:03:28.560 --> 0:03:31.000 You know, I want to know what that link looks. 0:03:30.760 --> 0:03:34.080 Like, what are the variables that can lead to more 0:03:34.160 --> 0:03:36.640 instances of fires like this that are out of control? 0:03:36.760 --> 0:03:40.360 Because the fire isn't new, no, So what led to 0:03:40.400 --> 0:03:43.280 this mass destruction? And has this been going on and 0:03:43.320 --> 0:03:46.240 it just got picked up in the news or like 0:03:46.320 --> 0:03:47.080 when did this start? 0:03:47.200 --> 0:03:49.560 That's a very good question, And I want to know 0:03:50.040 --> 0:03:53.000 what we should expect in the future, Like this seems 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:56.800 to be something that's not just happening in Australia, It's 0:03:56.800 --> 0:03:59.920 happening in other parts of the world, and I want 0:03:59.920 --> 0:04:03.560 to know what we should be expecting now that this 0:04:03.680 --> 0:04:07.640 is becoming a part of our normal everyday lives. 0:04:07.680 --> 0:04:10.160 Fires, all right, I think we're ready to jump into 0:04:10.200 --> 0:04:10.720 the dissection. 0:04:13.520 --> 0:04:15.560 So to help us out, we called on doctor Sarah 0:04:15.640 --> 0:04:16.800 Perkins Kirkpatrick. 0:04:17.360 --> 0:04:21.039 So my name is doctor Sarah Perkins Kirkpatrick. I'm a 0:04:21.360 --> 0:04:24.120 research fellow at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, 0:04:24.480 --> 0:04:27.360 and I specialize in extreme events and heat waves, so 0:04:27.400 --> 0:04:30.640 I analyze how they've changed over the observational record. 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:34.600 Doctor Perkins Kirkpatrick says the fires occurring in Australia right 0:04:34.640 --> 0:04:37.599 now are the worst in the continent's historical record. 0:04:38.040 --> 0:04:41.680 We have just had our worst bushfire event on record. 0:04:42.440 --> 0:04:44.479 I was going to say season, but the season isn't 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:45.360 even over yet. 0:04:45.520 --> 0:04:48.880 These fires have been blazing since September and many of 0:04:48.920 --> 0:04:51.680 them have been in forest away from major cities. But 0:04:51.800 --> 0:04:54.560 now the country has seen a rapid spread since December 0:04:54.600 --> 0:04:55.600 twenty nineteen. 0:04:55.480 --> 0:04:57.920 And what we're talking about is almost two hundred fires 0:04:57.960 --> 0:05:01.080 burning at the same time. These fires are eating up 0:05:01.200 --> 0:05:02.280 everything in their path. 0:05:02.600 --> 0:05:06.280 We haven't seen fires of this ferocity really ever in 0:05:06.320 --> 0:05:07.880 the observational record here. 0:05:08.040 --> 0:05:10.960 In the past few weeks, the Australian government has updated 0:05:10.960 --> 0:05:13.599 this report of the area that is either currently burning 0:05:13.720 --> 0:05:17.520 or has been burned. It's now it's seventeen million hectares 0:05:17.560 --> 0:05:19.600 across all the territories of Australia. 0:05:19.680 --> 0:05:22.000 I don't know what a hectar is, don't. 0:05:21.760 --> 0:05:25.680 Even worry about it. From a hectare to an acre turm. Now, 0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:27.919 don't worry. You know I got you, so I basically 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:29.039 I did the conversion for you. 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:32.680 And seventeen million hectares is basically the size of Florida. 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:34.000 Can you imagine? 0:05:34.279 --> 0:05:39.600 No, that is insane, So what caused these fires? What 0:05:40.160 --> 0:05:40.839 started them? 0:05:41.080 --> 0:05:43.719 For fires, we actually need an ignition. You can have 0:05:43.920 --> 0:05:47.080 the worst fire weather ever, but it doesn't mean anything 0:05:47.160 --> 0:05:49.160 really if the fire isn't ignited. 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:52.960 So there are two primary culprits for fires and how 0:05:53.040 --> 0:05:55.839 they start. One of them could be a natural event, 0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:58.760 like a lightning strike that ignites a dry bush or 0:05:58.760 --> 0:06:00.799 a plant and then the fire starts. 0:06:01.000 --> 0:06:04.200 It's been really dry. We've had three of our lowest 0:06:04.440 --> 0:06:08.480 years on record in terms of rainfall over Eastern Australia. 0:06:08.520 --> 0:06:11.240 We also had our driest year on record last year, 0:06:12.160 --> 0:06:14.440 and that feeds into fuel. So the dryer it is, 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:18.000 the more the vegetation dries out and consequently becomes fuel 0:06:18.040 --> 0:06:18.560 to a fire. 0:06:18.920 --> 0:06:22.120 The other possibility is a man made ignition like arson, 0:06:22.480 --> 0:06:24.919 where somebody intentionally sets a fire. 0:06:25.160 --> 0:06:27.520 So this could be either people going out and deliberately 0:06:27.600 --> 0:06:30.679 lighting fires for god knows what's reason, or even throwing 0:06:30.720 --> 0:06:32.719 a cigarette but out the car window, or leaving some 0:06:32.800 --> 0:06:35.279 rubbish which can then trap the sun and ignite the fire. 0:06:35.800 --> 0:06:39.200 And this is all really awful to think about, you know, yeah, 0:06:39.240 --> 0:06:42.159 But the thing to remember is that fire is nothing 0:06:42.200 --> 0:06:43.080 new in Australia. 0:06:43.240 --> 0:06:47.360 Indigenous people have been using fire management practices for tens 0:06:47.400 --> 0:06:49.599 of thousands of years, so it's not like it's anything 0:06:49.720 --> 0:06:50.320 new here. 0:06:50.800 --> 0:06:54.840 Aboriginal fire management consisted of deliberately setting fires to get 0:06:54.960 --> 0:06:57.159 rid of some of the dry vegetation that could lead 0:06:57.240 --> 0:07:00.800 to spontaneous fires in the future. This practice is called 0:07:00.839 --> 0:07:05.200 controlled burning. Modern day fire agencies adopted these practices from 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:07.839 the indigenous people of Australia. 0:07:07.160 --> 0:07:09.320 And I think this is really this is a really 0:07:09.360 --> 0:07:11.600 clever strategy. If you know there is an issue with 0:07:11.800 --> 0:07:14.440 things catching on fire in a certain period, why not 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:18.560 preemptively burn so you don't have all this dry fuel that. 0:07:18.560 --> 0:07:21.920 Could catch fire at any moment from anything. Right In 0:07:21.960 --> 0:07:24.760 Australia actually has a fire season. 0:07:24.560 --> 0:07:27.320 So the fire season usually follows the warmer weather. It 0:07:27.400 --> 0:07:31.080 follows summer in the southern part of Australia, and it's 0:07:31.080 --> 0:07:34.000 basically when we see the bushfires occur. So you can 0:07:34.040 --> 0:07:36.600 get bushfires in winter, it's not impossible, but we tend 0:07:36.640 --> 0:07:38.520 to see much more of them and then generally of 0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:42.920 higher intensity within the warmer seasons, simply because it's hotter 0:07:43.200 --> 0:07:45.760 and temperature is a major component to fire weather. 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:50.000 But what's happening in Australia. This year is unprecedented from 0:07:50.160 --> 0:07:53.760 other fire seasons for a couple of reasons. First, it's 0:07:53.800 --> 0:07:55.360 starting earlier, right. 0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:59.320 Peak fire season is usually late January to February. But 0:07:59.440 --> 0:08:03.320 remember these fires have been happening since September, so this 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:05.840 is really unexpected and the weather will only get drier 0:08:05.880 --> 0:08:08.680 from here. Second is the intensity of fire. 0:08:08.880 --> 0:08:12.320 They were burning at intensity it's you know, upwards of 0:08:12.480 --> 0:08:14.960 six seven hundred degrees centigrade. 0:08:14.720 --> 0:08:17.560 That's up to one thousand, two hundred degrees fahrenheit. 0:08:18.080 --> 0:08:21.280 That's wild. I don't cook above five hundred what like? 0:08:21.600 --> 0:08:23.680 What does that even feel like? You would never know? 0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:24.760 I don't want to know. 0:08:25.040 --> 0:08:25.800 You would never know. 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:31.520 These fires they moved extremely quickly. They have killed somewhere 0:08:31.520 --> 0:08:34.960 between half a billion to a billion animals. We've lost gosh, 0:08:35.040 --> 0:08:38.120 I think twenty five to thirty people. Thousands of homes 0:08:38.120 --> 0:08:39.040 have been destroyed. 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:41.280 I think the last number I saw is that there 0:08:41.320 --> 0:08:45.199 were twenty at least twenty seven people did and that's confirmed. 0:08:45.280 --> 0:08:45.400 Right. 0:08:45.440 --> 0:08:48.240 There are people that are missing, the people that you 0:08:48.240 --> 0:08:50.079 know you can't get in touch with because people's homes 0:08:50.080 --> 0:08:53.200 have burned, they've had to quickly evacuate. This is sure, 0:08:53.200 --> 0:08:56.400 it's just hard to make a phone call I have 0:08:56.559 --> 0:08:59.559 it go through because of this all of the an emergency. 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:00.400 Yeah. Yeah. 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:03.880 The other thing to consider is Australia's really unique ecosystem. 0:09:04.280 --> 0:09:07.280 There are many species that are only found in Australia, 0:09:07.679 --> 0:09:13.000 so this raging fire threatens the very existence of some organisms. 0:09:13.080 --> 0:09:15.520 Now we're talking about the possibility of extinction. 0:09:16.559 --> 0:09:18.840 The other thing to consider is that this number one 0:09:18.880 --> 0:09:21.760 billion animals is a running estimate of those loss in 0:09:21.800 --> 0:09:25.479 the fire. Right now, we're not capturing the downstream effect. 0:09:25.720 --> 0:09:28.160 There'll be more death when you consider those animals who 0:09:28.160 --> 0:09:32.280 have lost their natural habitats with destroyed ecosystems, These fires 0:09:32.280 --> 0:09:34.640 have wiped out what they normally eat, where they live 0:09:34.760 --> 0:09:38.360 and are protected from predators. There's so much to consider. 0:09:38.880 --> 0:09:41.120 Also, there's been lots of studies that have shown the 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:44.040 length of the fire season in Southeast Australia is increasing 0:09:44.080 --> 0:09:44.520 in length. 0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:46.880 So what we're really saying here is that there are 0:09:46.960 --> 0:09:48.040 levels to this. Right. 0:09:48.320 --> 0:09:51.000 First of all, we're talking about earlier instances of these 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:52.320 fires occurring. 0:09:51.960 --> 0:09:56.160 And then when there's an instance, there's increased intensity. 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:58.920 And now the possibility of even longer periods of conditions 0:09:58.960 --> 0:10:00.719 that make these fires mo or likely to. 0:10:00.679 --> 0:10:03.480 Occur, and that equation means more fire. 0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:06.200 So now that we have an understanding of what's happening 0:10:06.200 --> 0:10:09.080 in Australia and what has contributed to these fires, when 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:11.679 we come back, we'll talk about how climate and fire 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:13.199 season are both changing. 0:10:29.880 --> 0:10:31.480 And we're back and it's time to get to the 0:10:31.559 --> 0:10:34.920 root of this climate change. But before we jump into this, 0:10:34.960 --> 0:10:36.719 there's a couple of things that we really want to 0:10:36.760 --> 0:10:40.320 make clear, and that's what is climate change and the 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:42.120 difference between climate and weather. 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:46.720 Greenhouse gases trapped in the Earth's atmosphere causes climate change. 0:10:47.160 --> 0:10:49.520 So as sunlight comes down on the Earth, some of 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:51.840 it is absorbed, some of it is reflected back, and 0:10:51.880 --> 0:10:54.520 some of it gets trapped in the Earth's atmosphere. Because 0:10:54.559 --> 0:10:58.040 of these greenhouse gases, this causes the Earth to warm. 0:10:58.120 --> 0:11:00.400 Think of it like a blanket. The more dense the blanket, 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:03.079 the warmer you are. Right well, because of our behavior 0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:05.640 on Earth with fossil fuels, we're knitting ourselves a blanket 0:11:05.640 --> 0:11:06.360 made of bricks. 0:11:06.640 --> 0:11:10.240 Of all the greenhouse gases, though carbon dioxide is the worst. 0:11:10.440 --> 0:11:13.880 Carbon dioxide is released through natural processes such as respiration 0:11:14.000 --> 0:11:17.920 and volcanic eruptions, but through human activities such as deforestation, 0:11:18.240 --> 0:11:21.120 land used changes, and burning fossil fuels, the amount of 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:24.280 carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased by more than 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:27.880 a third since the Industrial Revolution in the seventeen sixties. 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:29.120 That is crazy. 0:11:29.360 --> 0:11:30.800 I knew it was bad, but I don't think I 0:11:30.840 --> 0:11:32.480 knew it was increased by more than a third. 0:11:32.640 --> 0:11:34.960 It's really crazy because it's happening so fast. 0:11:35.120 --> 0:11:37.720 Yeah, and I think one of the main things I 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:41.640 see people doing wrong is confusing weather in climate change 0:11:42.080 --> 0:11:43.559 or weather in climate. 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:47.319 Yes, and that is of those two things are very different. 0:11:47.720 --> 0:11:50.120 Weather is a short term event that occurs in the 0:11:50.160 --> 0:11:53.160 section of the Earth's atmosphere that is closest to the ground, 0:11:53.240 --> 0:11:57.240 the trophosphere. Yes, and weather is different depending on where 0:11:57.280 --> 0:11:59.839 you are. So the weather here in my town could 0:11:59.840 --> 0:12:02.160 be different from where Zakia lives in her town, which 0:12:02.200 --> 0:12:04.280 isn't very far It's only about twenty five minutes away. 0:12:04.640 --> 0:12:09.000 And the factors that affect weather are things like air pressure, wind, humidity, 0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:09.760 and things like that. 0:12:10.000 --> 0:12:13.200 Climate, on the other hand, captures long term changes, so 0:12:13.240 --> 0:12:15.640 when scientists talk about climate, they are looking at trends 0:12:15.640 --> 0:12:18.680 over a longer period. Of time and over larger regions. 0:12:19.000 --> 0:12:21.600 When we talk about climate change, we're saying the overall 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:24.560 trend for a specific region of the world or the 0:12:24.559 --> 0:12:27.600 world in general is trending in a certain way. 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:29.720 So if you have a record heat wave or record 0:12:29.760 --> 0:12:32.960 snowfall in your state, that's the weather and that will 0:12:33.000 --> 0:12:35.160 be averaged out with the rest of the weather for 0:12:35.200 --> 0:12:38.079 the year to provide a data point for the overall 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:39.480 climate for a region. 0:12:39.840 --> 0:12:43.120 And another way of looking at is climate is your wardrobe. 0:12:43.200 --> 0:12:45.240 Whether it is the outfit you put on today. You 0:12:45.240 --> 0:12:48.520 know you've got a broad general set of outfits that 0:12:48.520 --> 0:12:50.480 that suits who you are, but what you pick that 0:12:50.600 --> 0:12:52.400 day might or might not fit into that. You know 0:12:52.480 --> 0:12:54.160 that generalized range that you have. 0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:58.439 Australia has experienced highly variable weather over the last few years, 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:00.880 and that's one of the ways scientists determined the climate 0:13:00.920 --> 0:13:04.079 is changing. What they do is look at extreme weather 0:13:04.160 --> 0:13:06.720 events like heat waves, and they compare those events against 0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:08.959 what would be expected with the given climate. 0:13:09.080 --> 0:13:11.640 And what we're starting to see now is more of 0:13:11.679 --> 0:13:14.320 those extremes occur more often and they're actually starting to 0:13:14.360 --> 0:13:17.600 break records and therefore break that envelope of climate that 0:13:17.640 --> 0:13:20.200 we've measured from previous weather and that's how we can 0:13:20.240 --> 0:13:21.439 detect the change in climate. 0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:24.760 So as the climate continues to change, what should we 0:13:24.840 --> 0:13:26.520 expect to see in Australia. 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:29.640 So in terms of climate change, we know that we're 0:13:29.640 --> 0:13:31.240 going to see an increase in temperature and that's what 0:13:31.240 --> 0:13:34.360 we've seen over Australia already. So even though we've only 0:13:34.400 --> 0:13:37.120 seen an increase of average temperature of about one degree celsius, 0:13:37.160 --> 0:13:40.520 which doesn't sound like a lot to most people, that 0:13:40.600 --> 0:13:44.440 actually drastically increases the number of heat waves we see 0:13:44.480 --> 0:13:47.440 in extreme temperature events that we see, and hot weather 0:13:47.520 --> 0:13:49.320 is a key ingredient to bush fire weather. 0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:52.240 This is another case of the butterfly effect. While it 0:13:52.240 --> 0:13:54.720 may seem great to have these bursts of extreme weather events, 0:13:54.800 --> 0:13:56.880 and I'm looking at you DC with those summer days 0:13:56.880 --> 0:13:59.360 in January, it was lovely. We're seeing this happen more 0:13:59.400 --> 0:14:02.319 and more off. Our frequency is increasing. 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:04.800 Yes, And this is just like contractions when somebody's about 0:14:04.800 --> 0:14:08.240 to have a baby. So as those contractions become more 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:11.200 and more intense and they get closer and closer together, 0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:13.160 that baby coming out. 0:14:13.000 --> 0:14:15.199 And that baby is warm air, and. 0:14:15.200 --> 0:14:18.280 Also warmer air can hold more moisture. So for every 0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:22.520 degree celsius temperatures rise, approximately seven percent more moisture can 0:14:22.560 --> 0:14:25.040 be stored in the atmosphere and it doesn't have to 0:14:25.080 --> 0:14:25.600 rain out. 0:14:25.760 --> 0:14:30.000 So now we're talking about warmer air and no relief 0:14:30.080 --> 0:14:33.480 from that warmer air because your atmosphere just holds onto 0:14:33.520 --> 0:14:35.160 the water says I could take a little more water. 0:14:35.560 --> 0:14:37.680 You know, Normally, if it can't hold more water, it 0:14:37.720 --> 0:14:38.480 will rain. 0:14:38.400 --> 0:14:40.160 And eventually it will rain out. But it can just 0:14:40.200 --> 0:14:42.960 sit there, and you know, because it can hold more moisture, 0:14:43.000 --> 0:14:45.800 there's more evaporation going on and that can exacerbate droughts 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:47.840 and therefore bush fire weather too. 0:14:48.080 --> 0:14:50.520 So not only is it warmer, is warmer and is 0:14:50.520 --> 0:14:54.640 not raining and is taking water away from from the vegetation, 0:14:54.840 --> 0:14:59.720 from the plants and creating basically starter fuel for these fires. 0:15:00.920 --> 0:15:03.720 So if you look at maps of last year of Australia, 0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:06.280 it was our hottest year and our driest year on record, 0:15:06.600 --> 0:15:09.200 and a lot of that area, or some of that 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:11.560 area at least, is where we've had these really bad bushfires, 0:15:11.680 --> 0:15:12.760 especially in the southeast. 0:15:13.520 --> 0:15:16.720 Knowing this, knowing that the climate is continuing to change, 0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:19.960 we can predict that what's happening in Australia isn't just 0:15:20.000 --> 0:15:23.240 a blip on the radar. This is the new landscape. 0:15:23.320 --> 0:15:26.160 These fires that we've seen this season will become much 0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:29.160 more commonplace when the earth is warmed by about two 0:15:29.240 --> 0:15:30.840 and a half degrees celsius. 0:15:31.280 --> 0:15:34.200 Here's the thing to remember. Climate change is global, so 0:15:34.280 --> 0:15:36.960 Australia isn't the only place likely to be affected this way, 0:15:37.120 --> 0:15:38.080 and we've already. 0:15:37.760 --> 0:15:41.200 Seen that this can happen anywhere else, especially Mediterranean climates. 0:15:41.240 --> 0:15:44.840 So I think the climate of California, even with wildfires 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:49.160 in Canada, certain parts of Europe, weather like this where 0:15:49.160 --> 0:15:52.040 it's hotter and drier is projected for the future, which 0:15:52.160 --> 0:15:55.240 consequently can equal a lot more bushfires. So you know, 0:15:55.280 --> 0:15:56.800 on top of that with the bushfires, we're going to 0:15:56.800 --> 0:16:00.760 expect more heat waves. There's a direct relationship between rises 0:16:00.800 --> 0:16:03.680 in global average temperature and the frequency and duration of 0:16:03.680 --> 0:16:04.320 heat waves. 0:16:04.680 --> 0:16:06.800 So what can we do to help mitigate the effects 0:16:06.840 --> 0:16:09.920 of a change in climate? Doctor Perkins Kirkpatrick gave us 0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:11.320 two big things to think about. 0:16:11.600 --> 0:16:13.440 One of them is planning ahead, So. 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:15.440 We need to work out as communities how it can 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:18.800 best adapt to the conditions that are lie ahead. As well, 0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:21.720 so you know what resources do we need to throw 0:16:21.920 --> 0:16:24.720 at an emergency when it occurs. Are we best prepared 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:28.240 to handle higher hospital missions during a heat wave, for example, 0:16:28.440 --> 0:16:32.160 or do we have enough firefighters when a push fire 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:34.280 does occur. We really need to be forward thinking and 0:16:34.280 --> 0:16:37.320 forward planning as a society in those ways too. 0:16:37.600 --> 0:16:39.760 The other way we can work against climate change is 0:16:39.800 --> 0:16:41.200 to start at home with us. 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:44.640 We all need to collectively work together to reduce our emissions, 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:48.120 so we need to put pressure on our governments. We 0:16:48.160 --> 0:16:50.240 also need to do our bits. So choose wisely with 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:52.360 the products that you buy. Choose wisely with what you 0:16:52.360 --> 0:16:55.000 put in your mouth, Choose wisely with how you buy 0:16:55.000 --> 0:16:56.960 and use your energy. You know, try and use green 0:16:57.040 --> 0:17:00.680 energy where possible. If you can grow some food at home, 0:17:00.720 --> 0:17:03.600 even if it's just herbs, use public transport. These all 0:17:03.600 --> 0:17:05.320 sounds like really basic things. And I know a lot 0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:07.600 of people think, you know, what can I do as 0:17:07.600 --> 0:17:09.880 a person, as just one individual? But if we all 0:17:09.880 --> 0:17:12.200 do a little bit, that's better than doing nothing at all. 0:17:12.440 --> 0:17:14.399 This is a great point and it's really eye opening. 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:18.919 It really is, because I mean, we all feel like 0:17:19.080 --> 0:17:23.879 we know what climate change is and what it does 0:17:24.480 --> 0:17:26.960 but this really kind of like open up and shine 0:17:27.000 --> 0:17:29.920 a light on a whole area climate change that some 0:17:30.000 --> 0:17:32.200 of us in the United States don't really think about. 0:17:32.440 --> 0:17:35.359 And this is nothing new. We have to do something different. 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:37.760 You can think back to the fires in California in 0:17:37.800 --> 0:17:44.800 twenty sixteen, same thing, climate related, right, and today we 0:17:44.880 --> 0:17:48.840 only put fires under the magnifying glass. But if you 0:17:48.880 --> 0:17:51.640 think about it, there's a flip side to that too, 0:17:51.720 --> 0:17:55.280 when we talk about extreme events. If a fire is 0:17:55.320 --> 0:17:57.800 coming through and burning up all your vegetation, there's no 0:17:57.880 --> 0:17:59.920 root system to hold anything in place in the grain. 0:18:00.200 --> 0:18:02.800 And we saw this in California after that fire season 0:18:02.800 --> 0:18:06.240 in twenty sixteen. In twenty seventeen, there were mud slides. 0:18:06.480 --> 0:18:09.400 Right, So what the roots do in the plant systems 0:18:09.440 --> 0:18:12.280 is that they hold the ground together. They're not there 0:18:12.480 --> 0:18:15.119 just for no reason. They helped this earth stay together. 0:18:15.400 --> 0:18:16.520 Yes, now we're crumbling. 0:18:17.440 --> 0:18:20.040 Or when you have excessive rains later because you've held 0:18:20.080 --> 0:18:24.560 all this moisture, when your atmosphere finally does rain, it's 0:18:24.600 --> 0:18:27.000 a lot of rain and the ground's really dry and 0:18:27.040 --> 0:18:27.640 everything's dead. 0:18:27.680 --> 0:18:29.160 There's nothing to absorb that water. 0:18:29.280 --> 0:18:32.920 Exactly. That's what's happening in my plant currently. I haven't 0:18:32.920 --> 0:18:34.480 watered in a while. I tried to put water in 0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:41.000 and it just came out the bottom. 0:18:41.200 --> 0:18:42.840 I think the other thing that we didn't get the 0:18:42.960 --> 0:18:45.600 chance to touch on today in this interview is about 0:18:45.640 --> 0:18:48.439 the who else is affected. It's easy to say, oh, 0:18:48.480 --> 0:18:51.959 that's happening in Australia, but it's all of us, okay, 0:18:52.000 --> 0:18:55.919 because there are even reports that smoke from the fires 0:18:55.920 --> 0:18:58.280 in Australia has drifted over. 0:18:58.160 --> 0:19:02.080 To South America. America, do you below us? 0:19:02.200 --> 0:19:04.640 Yes, we all have to work together collectively to stop 0:19:04.680 --> 0:19:06.720 these types of events when they happen, because we all 0:19:06.760 --> 0:19:08.720