Climate change: How future Oz wild fires will worsen NZ s big glacier melt
16 May, 2021 01:28 AM
4 minutes to read
Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research scientist Dr John Hunt collects snow at Fox Glacier soon after it was discoloured by dust from Australia s unprecedented bush fires. Photo / Phil Novis
Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research scientist Dr John Hunt collects snow at Fox Glacier soon after it was discoloured by dust from Australia s unprecedented bush fires. Photo / Phil Novis
Australia s catastrophic bush fires sent enough ash across the Tasman Sea to darken nearly all of the South Island s glaciers - compounding the already severe melting effect of climate warming.
Will future Oz fires turn NZ snow as red as our skies?
5 Jan, 2021 09:20 PM
5 minutes to read
Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research scientist Dr John Hunt collects ash-contaminated snow at Fox Glacier following Australia s unprecedented bush fires last summer. Photo / Phil Novis
Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research scientist Dr John Hunt collects ash-contaminated snow at Fox Glacier following Australia s unprecedented bush fires last summer. Photo / Phil Novis
When smoke from Australia s unprecedented bush fires turned Auckland skies a ghastly orange this time last year, few likely considered the impact it was having at the other end of the country. That was the added melting of our glaciers - coming after what had already been a horror few years for the tourist-drawing wonders.
GEORGE HEARD/STUFF
NIWA s 2018 end of summer snowline survey showed many glaciers were affected by a historically warm summer.
The effect of Australian bushfire ash on New Zealand’s melting glaciers “could be worse than it seems”, a researcher says. Manaaki Whenua Landcare researcher Phil Novis, based in Canterbury, has been awarded nearly $1 million to study the impact of the Australian bushfires on glacial melting in New Zealand. His project – Australia burning, NZ melting: impacts of bushfires on NZ glacial environments –will examine glacial melting rates caused by the ash.
Mitchell Clark/Supplied
Tekapo photographer Mitchell Clark captured ash from the 2019 Australian bushfires, creating a pink hue on Fox Glacier.