Australia fire emergency

[troy]

I've been watching on the news, terrible disaster is an understatement!! I hope you guys on here are ok!! U.s. and other nations are sending fire fighters to help, 100s of years old vegetation and animals are a loss, very sad!! How did it start??

 

[emydura]

It is just horrendous. Hundreds of fires right up the east coast of Australia. They have been burning since August and there is no prospect of them going out any time soon. In fact, the worst time for fires in Australia is between January and March. The only thing that will put the fires out is heavy rain and there is no forecast of that until at least February. So they will just keep burning. Tomorrow is expected to be the worst day so far. Temperatures in the mid 40's and strong wings. So expect a lot more houses to get burnt down and potentially more deaths.

How did they start? Well there are hundreds of separate fires and they started in various ways. One of the worst fires was in South Australia which started from a car crash. Lots of houses lost and people killed. Most of the fires however have started from natural lightning strikes which is normal.

The fires have been caused by a combination of events. Australia is currently going through the worst recorded drought in our history (more than 3 years). The temperatures over the last month or so have been insanely hot. Temperature records have been absolutely smashed. This has been combined with cyclonic winds. The forests are tinder dry. Once they catch light there is no stopping them.

We seem to be surrounded by fires here in Canberra although none have reached really close yet (although only a matter of time). However, for the last month or so we have had to put up with thick smoke that has been 23 times the hazardous rating. The air is toxic and it is hard to breathe. At times our air quality has been the worst in the world. Normally ours would be one of the cleanest.

A lot of the areas on the south coast of NSW are some of my favourite holiday locations (Batemans Bay, Bermagui. Mallacoota). It is devastating to see them so badly destroyed.

The area that has been burnt is just astounding (6 million hectares and growing). It has been estimated that 500 million animals have been killed in the fires.

Climate scientists and fire chiefs have warned for years about future catastrophic fires in Australia. Sadly their predictions are now playing out. Welcome to the future.

 

[Guldal]

David, Thank you for the update!

It's ghastly and heart-wrenching to see people strugling for their homes and sometimes even their lives because of the fires!
I've 'liked' your entry, not because I "like" the content/subject matter, but out of relief from hearing that you yourself, all things considered, are relatively well and for the present safe!
Even here, high up on the northern hemisphere, one would have a heart of stone to remain untouched by the fate of so many of your compatriotes!
And even when the fires get under control, people won't probably have seen the final consquences yet - if my memory doesn't elude me, in the wake of the horrible forest fires in Indonesia a couple of years ago, there followed an appaling increase in respiratory diseases even quite far from the actual fires due to the toxicity of the smoke, that you also mention!
It's difficult not to admire the courage and tenacity of your brave firemen, -women and rescueworkers, sometimes working under impossible circumstances. May their audacious endeavour to help and alleviate the consequences of these catastrophic fires bear fruit!

Most kind regards,
Jens

 

[Linus_Cello]

I hope the fires get under control soon and/or the fires come soon (also I hope this thread doesn’t mirror some of the other threads referencing climate change). Quite bold of the PM to vacation in Hawaii for part of this time.

https://ktla.com/2019/12/22/austral...king-hawaii-vacation-during-deadly-wildfires/

 

[ehanes7612]

As someone who has experienced the past few summers under a blanket of smoke, I know it's a difficult thing to have to live through, especially if you have breathing issues like asthma. Hopefully some form of relief happens soon

 

[tomkalina]

David,

Sending our prayers that this disaster abates sooner rather than later. Tragic to hear that 500 million animals having already perished, and countless plant species as well I'm sure. Please stay safe....

 

[emydura]

David,

Sending our prayers that this disaster abates sooner rather than later. Tragic to hear that 500 million animals having already perished, and countless plant species as well I'm sure. Please stay safe....

And sadly many more animals will now die from starvation and predation as they now have nothing to eat or habitat to live in.

As someone who has experienced the past few summers under a blanket of smoke, I know it's a difficult thing to have to live through, especially if you have breathing issues like asthma. Hopefully some form of relief happens soon

I do suffer mild asthma from time to time, although it has been many years since I have had any issues. But last night when a thick blanket of smoke rolled in, I was suddenly gasping for air and needed to use a ventolin spray. So I can only imagine how difficult it must be for people with more serious breathing difficulties.

Here is a story on the current air quality in canberra -

https://www.theguardian.com/austral...s-worst-air-quality-as-city-all-but-shut-down

 

[emydura]

I hope the fires get under control soon and/or the fires come soon (also I hope this thread doesn’t mirror some of the other threads referencing climate change). Quite bold of the PM to vacation in Hawaii for part of this time.

https://ktla.com/2019/12/22/austral...king-hawaii-vacation-during-deadly-wildfires/

Yes, the Prime Ministers reputation has taken a battering over that holiday and I dare say it may never recover. His performance since then has only got worse. His problem is he leads a party with a weak record on climate change and one which contains many skeptics within its ranks who could easily remove him. So he is trying to downplay the significance of the fires so it does not reflect badly on their policies (or lack thereof). He will not admit that these fires are unprecedented so he comes across as lacking empathy and trivializing them. Going on an overseas holiday to Hawaii while the country is on fire only entrenched those views.

He turned up to Cobargo on Thursday where three people had been killed and the main street all but wiped out. The locals gave it to him with some refusing to shake his hand.

https://amp.abc.net.au/article/11838476#aoh=15780784695804&referrer=https://www.google.com&amp_tf=From %1$s

 

[emydura]

David, Thank you for the update!

It's difficult not to admire the courage and tenacity of your brave firemen, -women and rescueworkers, sometimes working under impossible circumstances. May their audacious endeavour to help and alleviate the consequences of these catastrophic fires bear fruit!

Most kind regards,
Jens

Yes, the firefighters are amazing. Such courage to stand in front of a 50 meter high inferno. Risk their lives and not receive a cent in reward.

I still cannot comprehend that young firefighter who was killed when his 10 tonne firetruck was picked up by a firestorm and dumped on its roof. That is the sort of conditions they are facing.

There is no better example of their bravery than this video -

 

[troy]

There has been quite a few fires on the west coast u.s. firescience officials say the fire will create it's own storms, pulling in moist cool air clashing with hot dry air causing fire cyclones, winds up to and over 150 mph, I pray for you guys!!!

 

[Guldal]

The video, you've uploaded, David, tells more than words can describe: these guys and gals deserve every bit of praise, gratitude and respect, that can be sent their way!

Very much unlike your PM - it's really not difficult to understand the reaction from people in Cobargo. And it's a demeaning and pity sight to see him trying to create photo-opportunities for himself by forcing handshakes on people, who clearly do not wish to shake his hand! It speaks volumes about the guys character and sense of propriety - or apparently complete lack of both!

 

[Berthold]

There has been quite a few fires on the west coast u.s. firescience officials say the fire will create it's own storms, pulling in moist cool air clashing with hot dry air causing fire cyclones, winds up to and over 150 mph, I pray for you guys!!!

Yes, we know that from the fire storms in Hamburg and Dresden.

 

[emydura]

David,

Sending our prayers that this disaster abates sooner rather than later. Tragic to hear that 500 million animals having already perished, and countless plant species as well I'm sure. Please stay safe....

For wildlife lovers, this article discusses how numerous species are now likely to become extinct from the widespread fires.

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...angered-species-extinction?CMP=share_btn_link

 

[Stone]

Welcome to the future.

Absolute pseudoscience garbage

 

[Stone]

="emydura, post: 678860, member: 8900"]

'Silent death': Australia's bushfires push countless species to extinction''

More garbage. (from the ''guardian'' no less)
I await the claimed ''extinct species due to fire'' count when the dust settles.

 

[emydura]

There has been quite a few fires on the west coast u.s. firescience officials say the fire will create it's own storms, pulling in moist cool air clashing with hot dry air causing fire cyclones, winds up to and over 150 mph, I pray for you guys!!!

We see the California fires every season. They seem to get worse every year. They always look as bad as Australian fires.

Yes, the fires here are often creating their own weather as well. That is what happened to that firefighter who was killed when a fire tornado developed lifting and flipping his fire truck.

 

[emydura]

The video,

Very much unlike your PM - it's really not difficult to understand the reaction from people in Cobargo. And it's a demeaning and pity sight to see him trying to create photo-opportunities for himself by forcing handshakes on people, who clearly do not wish to shake his hand! It speaks volumes about the guys character and sense of propriety - or apparently complete lack of both!

I couldn't have said it better myself Jens. You are a good judge of character. A lot of Audtralians share your view.

 

[emydura]

It looks like it was another bad day today with many more houses burnt down and two more people killed in Sourh Australia. But the extent of the destruction won't be known until tomorrow when people can get into these fire areas.

It was another insanely hot day today. It reached 44oC in Canberra which is the hottest day ever recorded here. In Penrith (Sydney) it reached 48.9oC which is also the hottest ever day for the Sydney region. Fortunately the weather forecast for the next few days is much cooler so there will be a reprieve from the fire risk for a while.

 

[Stone]

Absolute pseudoscience garbage

Welcome to the future..






https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-22/bushfire-arson-warning-ahead-of-school-holidays/11528192

 

[Stone]

[Guldal, post: 678854,
- it's really not difficult to understand the reaction from people in Cobargo.

No it's not. They are toothless, bong-smoking, ill-educated, ferals most probably non-working most of their lives and would probably hate ''conservative'' government as a matter of course. Most normal rational people caught up in this catastrophe do not react this way.