[Australia] Fires in Northern Australia, 2001/05/28

2001/148 - 05/28 at 01 :48 UTC

"Fires of both natural and anthropogenic sources have progressively transformed the Australian environment. The anthropogenic fires have had a significant impact on the environment. Historically indigenous Australians have used fire to aid in hunting practices and to encourage the growth of edible plants. More recently the arrival of European settlers has resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of fires. This rapid shift in the fire regime has lead to the extinction ofspecies of flora and fauna, which were unable to adapt tosuch environmental change. The fire regimes of Australia arecontinually changing as humans persist in using fire as a tool to maintain landscapes." [Marsden et al., IEEE, 2001]