October 7, 2026
Research Summary Report by Katie Quail
We wanted to know if climate change is causing the good time for burning to change.
To answer this question, we started by yarning with some of the rangers and elders to find out about the indicators that are used to know when to start and stop burning. We talked about what is good fire weather and what is bad fire weather. We also talked about climate change and if anyone has been noticing any changes to the usual seasonal weather patterns or the indicators.
What were the indicators?
| Climate related | Not climate related |
| The knock-em-down rains | Drying of the spear grass |
| Changes in temperature | Yellow/orange flowers |
| Wind speed and direction | Dragonflies |
| Humidity | Blackcurrant (juupi) |
| Clear skies at night | Waterlily |
| Honey gum | |
| Bush potatoes | |
| The sound of the birds | |
| Animals getting fat | |
| Movement of the animals |
To help us do this research we are using climate models. These are like computer programs that contain lots of information (data) about the climate from the past and in the future. This means that the easiest indicators for us to use are the ones that are related to the climate. The most important climate indicators you (the rangers and elders) talked about were the knock-em-down rains and changes in temperature. So we chose these indicators to see if they can tell us about what is going to happen to the burning season in the future.
