8
BAMOS
Mar 2019
News
Professor Andy Pitman awarded Reflections on Black Saturday
Priya Mohandoss
Order of Australia
An event summary for the public lecture 'A decade on—
Congratulations to Professor Andy Pitman, Director of the ARC
Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes (CLEX), who has been
awarded an Order of Australia "for distinguished service to
science as a leading researcher, particularly of climate systems
and the environment".
"The Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) is awarded
for distinguished service of a high degree to Australia
or humanity at large."
Professor Pitman is an internationally recognised expert on
terrestrial processes in global and regional climate modelling,
model evaluation and earth systems approaches to understanding
climate change. Professor Pitman is a Fellow of the Australian
Meteorological and Oceanographical Society and the American
Meteorological Society.
Full details of the award can be found on the CLEX website. and
the website of the Governor-General.
IFMS 5 th Global Meeting—Budapest
And AMOS participation in IFMS activities
Mary Voice, AMOS Fellow and Past President
The International Forum of Meteorological Societies (IFMS)
aims to foster and encourage communication and exchange
of knowledge, ideas and resources among the world’s
meteorological societies. It is organised exclusively for scientific,
educational and charitable purposes. IFMS is an incorporated
entity with a charter and a newly-elected Council (see below). It
recently established a Memorandum of Understanding with the
World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to assist each other in
capacity building and in the promotion of the relevant sciences.
IFMS held its fifth Global Meeting in Budapest Hungary on
September 5–6, 2018, hospitably hosted by the Hungarian
Meteorological Society (MMT). The meeting was attended by
representatives from National Meteorological Societies from all
six WMO Regions (pictured above). Mary Voice attended as a
representative for AMOS.
lessons from Black Saturday' held on Tuesday 5 February
2019 is available on Page 14.
This year signifies the tenth anniversary of the worst fire event
ever recorded in Australian history, Black Saturday. During 7
February 2009, the ferocity of these fires enveloped all in its
tracks. After leaving Kilmore East, the fires made their presence
known on Kinglake National Park and burnt more than 98% of
the forest area. In a matter of moments, it then unleashed its
fury on Strathewen, St Andrews, Kinglake, Kinglake West, Chum
Creek, Steels Creek, Arthurs Creek, Flowerdale, Broadford,
Healesville and Toolangi. One of the worst struck was Kinglake,
with flames reaching heights of more than 30 metres at gusts of
over 100 kilometres an hour.
While these communities were hit hard, with lives lost and
properties that were now in the form of debris, in excess of a
million native animals were also believed to have perished or
had their habitats destroyed, with over 450,000 hectares of
bushland in total left in a state of char and disarray.
However, much of this land, as a result of its own resilience and
with the aid of restoration projects, has bounced back, paving
the way for native wildlife and marsupials such as the koala, the
Brush-tailed phascogale and Leadbeater’s Possum to return
to these surroundings. Furthermore, local vegetation, such as
eucalypts, grass trees and tree ferns have been able to thrive
yet again. Due to the establishment of new corridors, such as
the Watsons Creek site, biodiversity is able to slowly replenish
in areas such as Kinglake National Park.
Most recently spotted has been the Powerful Owl. As a top level
predator, its resurgence indicates that ecosystems within these
fire-affected regions are starting to prosper once more.
Despite the events that unfolded on a day such as this, we
must reflect on the progress being made and marvel in nature’s
perseverance amid the turbulence.
A comprehensive report of the fifth meeting is available on the
IFMS website at www.ifms.org. The sixth General/Global Meeting
will take place in Boston alongside the American Meteorological
Society’s Centennial Celebration in January 2020.
In remembrance of Black Saturday in Kinglake township a
yellow bow is tied to a charred tree. (Left) Remnants of the
past along with signs of renewal in Steels Creek. (Right).
Images provided by Priya Mohandoss.
Delegates attending the fifth IFMS Global Meeting in Budapest.
Image: Mary Voice