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More than 70 percent of Australia is rangelands where climate change may intensify the extremes of an already extreme environment. Higher temperatures, extra evaporation from soils and watercourses, intense rainfall and more extreme droughts can be expected in the rangelands in the future (CSIRO 1994). Higher CO2 may provide benefits for cattle grazing as grasses may grow faster. However fires may also increase because of increased vegetation growth in the semi-arid and arid areas of Australia (IPCCb, 2001). In northern Australia this may be exacerbated by wetter monsoon seasons and higher temperatures, which will leave the landscape full of dry fuel for hot wild fires. 
Wild fires in the Kimberley There has been a noticeable increase in fires over the last 5 years in the Kimberley, which correlates with wetter monsoon seasons that create increased fuel loads (Edwards 2001). The region’s animals and plants are suffering from the impact of this higher frequency and intensity of fires (Palmer, 2001). CSIRO projections for the Kimberley region suggest that this trend towards wetter wet seasons will remain as global warming continues. Over the last 100 years, annual total rainfall in the Kimberley region has increased between 10-30 mm per decade. Over the last 50 years (1950-2000), annual total rainfall in the Kimberley region has increased between 40-80 mm per decade, which is equivalent to an increase of between 6 percent and 20 percent of normal rainfall per decade. 4 of the highest 10 annual rainfall totals for the Kimberley region in the last 100 years have occurred in the last 10 years (Bureau of Meteorology, 2001). While fire is a normal part of the landscape and an essential part of the ecology of the region, larger and hotter fires have been occurring in the last 5 years. In 1995, 27 percent of the Kimberley was affected by fire, in 2000 this had increased to 34 percent, or 140, 000 square kms. The trend over that period has been an increase in the extent and intensity of fires (Kimberley Regional Fire Management Project, 2001). Much of the vegetation in the Kimberley is fire tolerant and needs some level of fire to regenerate. But the region’s pindan, woodland, heathland and spinifex vegetation also needs periods of between 2 – 5 years free of fire to grow. Much of the region’s vegetation is suffering from the effects of being burned every year and there is very little new regrowth (Palmer, 2001). Animals are also suffering from increased fires in the region. Birds tend to live where the vegetation meets their needs, but with fire, forested areas are becoming more open and not necessarily suitable. Burnt areas can be so large that it is difficult for birds and mammals to traverse the distance to the next meal. For the many animals dependent on tree hollows and native fruiting trees, fires are destroying crucial habitat (Palmer, 2001). Increased fire has been observed by the Kimberley tourism industry and it is perceived to be having a negative impact on the industry, with visitors complaining about the visual impact of the fires on the landscape (McCulloch, 2001).
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King George River (Oomeri), Northern Kimberley Image courtesy of Mark Horstman 
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