The disaster movie playing in Australias wild places – and solutions that could help hit pause

They read like scenes from a disaster movie, vignettes of a natural world slipping into decay. As well as setting out the problem, the paper also focuses on what can be done to address it. The best-known example is the unprecedented three mass bleaching events to hit the Great Barrier Reef in just five years, causing significant coral death. Hughes says ecosystems are being hit by “multi-scaled problems that need multi-scaled solutions”. “We really need legislation that prioritises our life support system and is capable of dealing with complex and interacting risks.