University of Wollongong

About: University of Wollongong is a education organization based out in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 15674 authors who have published 46658 publications receiving 1197471 citations. The organization is also known as: UOW & Wollongong University.

Unprecedented burn area of Australian mega forest fires

Abstract: To the Editor — Between September 2019 and early January 2020, around 5.8 million hectares of mainly temperate broadleaf forest were burned in New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria (VIC) in eastern Australia by a series of mega fires. Many of the fires have exceeded 100,000 ha and continued to burn for weeks after their ignition1. The Gospers Mountain fire near Sydney has burned more than 510,000 ha since ignition by lightning on 26 October 2019; it is the largest forest fire recorded in Australia and continues to burn in late January 2020. Eastern Australia’s temperate broadleaf forests, dominated by eucalypts, are among the most fire-prone in the world, and major fires are relatively common2,3, yet annually only small percentages of this forest biome burn, typically below 2% even in the more extreme fire seasons4,5. Are the 2019/20 forest fires unprecedented in scale, and are they the result of unparalleled fuel conditions? To address these questions, we analysed global data for remotely sensed burned area at 500 m resolution6, covering all major global forest biomes7 for the past 20 years (November 2000 to June 2019). We computed the annual burned area as a percentage of the continental sections of each forest biome between November 2000 and June 2019, and for the NSW plus VIC sections of the Australian ‘temperate broadleaf and mixed’ (TBLM) forest biome resulting from the 2019/20 forest fires. The TBLM forest biome7 in eastern Australia covers about 27 Mha, close to the median size of other continental forest biomes (26 Mha), with about half of that forest area located in NSW and a fifth in VIC. Our analysis substantiates that the 2019/20 forest fires have burned a globally unprecedented percentage of any continental forest biome: 21% of the Australian TBLM forest biome has so far been burned in a single season (Fig. 1). This figure contrasts sharply with annual burned area percentages for all other continental forest biomes4, which have been well below 5%, except for the Asian and African sections of the Tropical and Subtropical Dry Broadleaf forests, for which medians of 8–9% have been recorded (Fig. 1). We note that the burned area of 21% for the Australian TBLM forest biome is an underestimate, as forest fires in Tasmania this season were not included in our analysis, and additional forest area may burn over the remainder of the fire season. Why have the fires been so devastating this year? Fires in eucalypt forests propagate primarily through the litter layer8, and its dryness effectively acts as the ‘on/off switch’ for forest fire activity. Naturally occurring firebreaks, such as moist gullies, swamps or south-facing slopes, that normally dissect the forest landscape have dried out during the current widespread drought, affecting the probability of mega forest fire events in a highly nonlinear way9. In 2019, predicted litter moisture content across the eastern Australian TBLM forest biome was at record low levels, and the total surface area of forest exceeding critical flammability thresholds9 was larger and more prolonged than ever recorded in the past 30 years (Fig. 2). Thus extreme drought provided the preconditions

Simply mixed commercial red phosphorus and carbon nanotube composite with exceptionally reversible sodium-ion storage

Abstract: Recently, sodium ion batteries (SIBs) have been given intense attention because they are the most promising alternative to lithium ion batteries for application in renewable power stations and smart grid, owing to their low cost, their abundant natural resources, and the similar chemistry of sodium and lithium. Elemental phosphorus (P) is the most promising anode materials for SIBs with the highest theoretical capacity of 2596 mA h g–1, but the commercially available red phosphorus cannot react with Na reversibly. Here, we report that simply hand-grinding commercial microsized red phosphorus and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can deliver a reversible capacity of 1675 mA h g–1 for sodium ion batteries (SIBs), with capacity retention of 76.6% over 10 cycles. Our results suggest that the simply mixed commercial red phosphorus and CNTs would be a promising anode candidate for SIBs with a high capacity and low cost.

Relationships between Body Composition and Fundamental Movement Skills among Children and Adolescents.

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine associations of fundamental movement skills (FMS) with measures of body composition among children and adolescents. Secondary analyses of cross-sectional data collected from 4,363 children and adolescents in Grades 4, 6, 8, and 10 as part of the 1997 New South Wales Schools Fitness and Physical Activity Survey were conducted. Six FMS (run, vertical jump, throw, catch, kick, and strike) were assessed by observation. Height and weight (used to calculate body mass index; BMI) and waist circumference were directly measured. Results indicated that the children's and adolescents' ability to perform FMS was significantly related to BMI and waist circumference. Specifically, BMI and waist circumference were significant predictors for FMS in six of the eight demographic groups. Adjusted odds ratios revealed that overweight boys and girls in all grades were less likely to possess high levels of FMS and more likely to possess low levels of FMS than those who weren't overweight. When FMS were partitioned into locomotor and object-control skills, nonoverweight boys and girls in each grade were two to three times more likely to possess more advanced locomotor skills than overweight boys and girls. However, for object-control skills, the only demographic groups in which nonoverweight students possessed a greater number of advanced skills than overweight students were boys in Grades 6 and 10. There appear to be significant and important associations between performance of locomotor skills and weight status among children and adolescents. This would suggest that intervention strategies to prevent unhealthy weight gain among children and youth might usefully include increasing proficiency of locomotor skills as a key component.

Changing the intellectual climate

Abstract: Calls for more broad-based, integrated, useful knowledge now abound in the world of global environmental change science. They evidence many scientists' desire to help humanity confront the momentous biophysical implications of its own actions. But they also reveal a limited conception of social science and virtually ignore the humanities. They thereby endorse a stunted conception of 'human dimensions' at a time when the challenges posed by global environmental change are increasing in magnitude, scale and scope. Here, we make the case for a richer conception predicated on broader intellectual engagement and identify some preconditions for its practical fulfilment. Interdisciplinary dialogue, we suggest, should engender plural representations of Earth's present and future that are reflective of divergent human values and aspirations. In turn, this might insure publics and decision-makers against overly narrow conceptions of what is possible and desirable as they consider the profound questions raised by global environmental change.