Mercury Rising: Extreme Bushfires

Hundreds of people around Australia tuned in to the livestream of Mercury Rising: Extreme Bushfires to see a panel of Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC experts discuss the science of bushfires.

You can replay the entire live stream at the bottom of this page.

The Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC teamed with the SA Country Fire Service and the SA Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources for this RiAust event.

The audience was involved as well, choosing the direction of the discussion in a 'Choose Your Own Adventure' style storyline. Both the live audience at The Science Exchange in Adelaide and viewers of the livestream were able to take part using their smartphones or tablets.

The event was promoted widely throughout South Australia’s regional areas. Many of those tuning in were watching as part of group meetings for rural fire brigades and land management offices.

Speakers included BNHCRC researchers Dr Mika Peace from the Bureau of Meteorology, Associate Professor Jason Sharples from the University of New South Wales, and Dr Josh Whittaker from RMIT University.

Mercury Rising: Extreme Bushfires included a daytime session for Emergency Service Professionals and an evening session open to everyone.

You can replay the entire session below

For ease, each speaker has a separate video. The Q&A session with Mika, Jason and Josh answering questions from the audience and online is also a separate video. Finally, the last three videos feature Mika, Jason and Josh answering one key question each about bushfire.

Mika Peace - extreme weather and bushfires

Jason Sharples - extreme bushfire behaviour

Josh Whittaker - how do people behave when faced with a bushfire?

Question and answer session with Mika, Jason and Josh

Mika Peace - how are fire warnings and weather forecasts made?

Jason Sharples - how does a bushfire change from a small fire to a large fire?

Josh Whittaker - do people react in a bushfire the way they intend?