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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/23/australian-bushfires-live-qa-with-csiro-researcher-dr-andrew-sullivan
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| Australian bushfires: live Q&A with CSIRO researcher Dr Andrew Sullivan | Australian bushfires: live Q&A with CSIRO researcher Dr Andrew Sullivan |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Dr Andrew Sullivan is head of CSIRO’s Bushfire Dynamics and Applications Group. His research covers five key areas: fuel dynamics, fuel availability, fire behaviour, fire impacts and fire management. | Dr Andrew Sullivan is head of CSIRO’s Bushfire Dynamics and Applications Group. His research covers five key areas: fuel dynamics, fuel availability, fire behaviour, fire impacts and fire management. |
| He is online now to answer your questions about bushfire behaviour and about the current state of emergency in New South Wales. | |
| Hi Andrew, what determines the direction in which the fires spread? Is it just the wind or are there other factors we should think about? | |
| Andrew Sullivan answers: | |
| Yes, it is predominantly the direction of the prevailing wind that determines the direction of fire spread. However, the direction of the prevailing wind can be affected by topographic features such as hills and gullies, etc. Topography will affect the speed of the fire (fires burn faster up hil than down hil) but will only significantly affect fire spread direction in light winds. | |
| Hi Andrew. From the perspective of someone from the UK, the current situation in New South Wales looks very extreme - both the scale of the fires and the extent of the warnings today about what could potentially happen. How rare is this kind of situation? And what makes it so particularly bad today? | |
| Andrew Sullivan answers: | |
| The current fire situation is extremely serious but is not rare during the bushfire season (the bushfire season in NSW started on October 1). What is fairly unusual is the number of ignitions that have occurred to start these fires. The expected fire weather for today is amplified by the fact that there are a large number of fires already burning in the landscape and there is a great potential for more to start. These new ignitions plus the existing fires will stretch firefighting resources greatly. | |
| How much do the fires affect air quality in surrounsing areas? Would a bad day in Sydney, for example, be as bad as smoking a pack of cigarettes? | |
| Andrew Sullivan answers: | |
| A large active fire can produce enough smoke to block out the sun and create night time conditions downwind of the fire. Depending on where you are and your proximity to the fires, the effects of bushfire smoke can be very debilitating. There is a broad range of both particulate matter as well as toxins in the smoke that can cause major health issues in susceptible people. | |
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