I suspect the articles point is more the scope, frequency, and magnitude of these changes. The fires are just one symptom. The city of Sydney being down to 40%

I suspect the articles point is more the scope, frequency, and magnitude of these changes. The fires are just one symptom. The city of Sydney being down to 40% of its water supply, and plausibly down to 20% this year. The Murray-darling basin is, bluntly, fucked. And regards to your “pithy” comment I do believe you’re off base. FWICT ecologists, biologists, and foresters are at a bit of a loss. We’re losing territory that simply doesnt burn in the normal cycle. To quote myself, The fires have been much larger and hotter than typical. The vegetation that does regrow probably wont be the same as we lost, ie pyrophillic scrubland replacing forrest. The fires are also destructive enough to destroy pyrophytic plants that would resist previous bushfires. Both of these are going to disrupt the regrowth of the ecosystem in unexpected/abnormal ways. Concern is that it leads to a long term cycle of more, hotter, larger fires and permanent habitat loss.