Australia’s suburbs could be overrun with termites unless urban planners rethink building practices, a multi-awarded expert from ANU has warned.
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Professor Patrick Troy has received his second honorary doctorate. |
Emeritus Professor Patrick Troy this month received his second honorary doctorate in less than 12 months for his 40 years of outstanding research into the problems facing the nation’s cities.
Professor Troy from the ANU Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies said urban centres were under threat from climate change, which is placing increasing pressure on issues around water and sewerage management, energy, transport, and the environment.
“A lot of people in Australia don’t realise how vulnerable our cities have become, particularly because of the effects of climate change. If we don’t respond to these changes relatively quickly, then I think we’ll see Australia begin to slide,” he said.
Professor Troy said urban spaces also face pressures from little-considered threats, such as termite attacks.
“People talk about how climate change can lead to increases in disease vectors, such as mosquitoes, but they don’t consider how it relates to things like using timber frames in buildings.
“In suburbs across Australia we’ve used a system of impregnating timbers with toxins that discourage termites, but the poison only has a half-life of about 20 years. After 40 years there’s not much protection left. On top of that, since we moved to building on concrete slabs instead of elevated houses, we’re unable to manage the termites when the slabs crack – creating easy access for the pests.
“Climate change is bringing the termites farther south. There are all sorts of termites everywhere, but some of the more voracious ones are in the north. I think we’ll see termites becoming more of a problem in southern Australia unless action is taken.”
Professor Troy called on urban planners and policy makers to consider the range of threats facing Australia’s cities when he accepted his second honorary doctorate at Griffith University. He received another honorary doctorate from Melbourne University last August.
“It’s important that we make Australian cities sustainable for the economy. It’s also important for social structures, and for the vitality and existence of our society,” Professor Troy said.
Professor Troy has been an urban researcher at ANU for the last 40 years, drawing on his earlier career as an engineer and civil planner.
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