EXTREME HEAT PUSHING AUSTRALIA'S FARMS, WILDLIFE TO LIMITS, STUDY WARNS

CANBERRA, Feb 18 (Bernama-Xinhua) — Australia's record-breaking heatwave in late January, with inland temperatures reaching 50 degrees Celsius, has inflicted severe damage on agriculture and wildlife, scientists warn, reported Xinhua.

Thousands of flying foxes died in the state of South Australia, while mango growers in the state of Western Australia reported that fruits "boiled" on trees, according to an article published on The Conversation website on Wednesday.

These increasingly extreme heatwaves now threaten crops, livestock, wildlife and ecosystems, said the article by Owen Atkin, director of the Agrifood Innovation Institute, Australian National University (ANU), and ANU ecology professor Adrienne Nicotra, with two co-authors.

Such intense and prolonged heatwaves are becoming more frequent and will persist for centuries even after global emissions reach net-zero, the authors said.

Sustained intense heat can degrade proteins in plant and animal cells, rupture cell membranes and disrupt metabolic processes essential for survival, they said.

Australian farms are under threat. Heat causes wheat to photosynthesise less and damages pollen in cereal crops, leading to less fertile seed, big falls in yields, and mass die-offs of plants and animals, said the article.

"Sustained heat is most damaging when the heat stays overnight," said the experts.

The authors called for more research to identify heat-tolerance traits in native species and develop large-scale methods to cool landscapes and protect ecosystems.  

— BERNAMA-XINHUA