Climate Adaptation

The Australian Dream Is Dying in the Wildfires

  • National disaster threatens a much-cherished outdoor life
  • Like California, nation is on a collision course with climate

Burned bush land stands beyond a children's playground in Lithgow, New South Wales, on Jan. 7.

Photographer: Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg
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The fabric of Australian life, that sun-licked, healthy, outdoor way of living that has drawn people to the continent for decades, is under assault.