Oct 21, 2026 · 11 min · 9 segments
Over the past few years, our environment seems to have experienced multiple extreme events in quick succession. With a summer fuelled by what may be the strongest and wettest El Niño ever, can our…
Euan RitchieGuestJonathan WebbHostBelinda SmithHostWe've had some pretty significant disasters for Aussie wildlife in the last few years, going back to the, the black summer and the algal bloom, and right now there seems to be more brewing.
Meanwhile, Bogong moths are apparently bouncing back, and, and I'm certainly seeing swarms of those.
Are these big events getting bigger or faster as the climate warms, or are we just noticing them more?
It certainly feels like our environment has really taken a large number of hits in recent years.
I think the situation with climate does appear pretty clear, that we are seeing increasing temperatures and increasing extreme events, um, whether they be, you know, heat or storms, flooding, et cetera.
So I think we can probably say that those type of events are becoming more common and the climate science would back that up.
And now, of course, we're staring down the barrel of this supposed mega El Niño that's coming our way.
I wouldn't mind zooming in just briefly though on the bat issue, which seems to be...
I mean, I'm-I've seen bats in the gutter near my place in Sydney, which seems like they're already struggling, even though we've seemed to have had quite a lot of wet weather.
I gather it's a, a drought, sort of the drought conditions previously that have affected their food supply.
If only they could eat the Bogong moths that seem to be around in their millions.
We've had some pretty significant disasters for Aussie wildlife in the last few years, going back to the, the black summer and the algal bloom, and right now there seems to be more brewing.
Meanwhile, Bogong moths are apparently bouncing back, and, and I'm certainly seeing swarms of those.
Are these big events getting bigger or faster as the climate warms, or are we just noticing them more?
It certainly feels like our environment has really taken a large number of hits in recent years.
I think the situation with climate does appear pretty clear, that we are seeing increasing temperatures and increasing extreme events, um, whether they be, you know, heat or storms, flooding, et cetera.
So I think we can probably say that those type of events are becoming more common and the climate science would back that up.
And now, of course, we're staring down the barrel of this supposed mega El Niño that's coming our way.
I wouldn't mind zooming in just briefly though on the bat issue, which seems to be...
I mean, I'm-I've seen bats in the gutter near my place in Sydney, which seems like they're already struggling, even though we've seemed to have had quite a lot of wet weather.
I gather it's a, a drought, sort of the drought conditions previously that have affected their food supply.
If only they could eat the Bogong moths that seem to be around in their millions.
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