Australia burning: bushfire crisis spreads

[Alilou]

On the PM’s catastrophically inept response to Australia’s unprecedented bushfires

A national disaster

On the PM’s catastrophically inept response to Australia’s unprecedented bushfires

www.themonthly.com.au

But the feds have FINALLY! stepped in with A$2billion over the next 2 years for recovery.

 

[TOADS]

American models still are hinting at substantial rains in NSW around the 20th and 21st.

 

[Maofan7]

Hazardous smoke haze to hit major cities

Hazardous smoke haze to hit major cities

Bushfire smoke is blanketing cities in multiple states today, prompting warnings from health experts to sta...

www.9news.com.au

Article reads:-

Bushfire smoke is blanketing cities in multiple states today, prompting warnings from health experts to stay inside.

Hazardous air quality is forecast in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne as hundreds of fires continue to burn despite cool weather and rainfall.

Dr Tony Bartone from the Australian Medical Association described the smoke as a fatal health risk.

"The length and the density of the smoke haze to which we're being exposed at the moment is of unprecedented nature. It has been going on for longer and it's particularly thick and poor air quality in our major capital cities," he told Today.

"It is it particularly a problem for asthmatics and people with pre-existing heart conditions and but also those of us in the community that haven't yet been exposed to those triggers and have got undiagnosed lung conditions.

 

[Peaches LaTour]

A little more information in some of the a Canadians helping out. Australia and New Zealand have always been such a huge support here, I am glad we can return the favour.

Dozens of Canadian fire-fighting experts on ground in Australia — The Globe and Mail

A contingent of 39 firefighters from the United states and Canada arrive at Melbourne Airport in Melbourne, Thursday, January 2, 2020. Canadian fire-fighting officials who are helping Australia battle its deadly blazes are bracing for a long fight. “It’s the scale of the drought here. They have...

apple.news

And the U.S., is sending more firefighters, as well.

Wish Australia could have the rain we have been getting here for the last few days.

 

[Maofan7]

Police charge 24 people for intentionally starting bushfires in the state of New South Wales

Police in Australia accuse 24 of deliberately setting bushfires amid natural factors | CNN

The Australia wildfires are a countrywide catastrophe, mainly caused by drought and extreme heat, but dozens of people are directly to blame for some of the problem, officials say.

edition.cnn.com

 

[mag]

And the U.S., is sending more firefighters, as well.

Wish Australia could have the rain we have been getting here for the last few days.

We have had another day of torrential rain. I will say I got a bit snippy with someone who was complaining. I suggest they should be thankful for it as there are places in the world that haven’t seen this much water in years.

 

[Bunny Hop]

Hazardous smoke haze to hit major cities

Yep, the smoke was back today in Sydney. We've had worse days, and we don't have it as bad as Canberra or the actual fire affected areas, but it's becoming far too common.

 

[taz'smum]

Yep, the smoke was back today in Sydney. We've had worse days, and we don't have it as bad as Canberra or the actual fire affected areas, but it's becoming far too common.

Yes, I can see on this real time pollution tracker, that Sydney air is either very unhealthy or actually Hazardous

World's Air Pollution: Real-time Air Quality Index

How polluted is the air today? Check out the real-time air pollution map, for more than 80 countries.

waqi.info

 

[Alilou]

Honestly I worry about my sis and BIL in Canberra.
All this time, these weeks on end of breathing all that shit. They're both in their late 70's, and not that strong. Usually they keep active, but they can't go outside. They've ordered an air purifier but you can imagine how many of them are available in Canberra these days. They're on a waiting list. It could be weeks before they get it. The good news is that neither of them have any kind of lung disease.
They're in central Canberra which has slightly better air quality than Tuggeranong way out in the suburbs.
Summer before last we had really bad air quality in Vancouver because of bushfires. I felt like it stole my summer. Oh poor me. It lasted about a week. Not months!

 

[TOADS]

Video shows hundreds of animals died trying to flee Australia fires | CNN

Wildfires raking Australia's New South Wales may have killed millions of animals. Video from rural Batlow shows animals that died trying to escape the flames.

www.cnn.com

THIS will make you sick.....

WARNING: These images are extremely disturbing....

 

[Maofan7]

'If you are told to leave, leave,' Daniel Andrews warns – as it happened

This blog is now closed.

www.theguardian.com

 

[misskarne]

Just when you think Scumbag McFcukFace can't get any worse, he manages it! The bar is on the ground and he's still digging under it!

He visited Kangaroo Island today, where he told a group of residents he was so glad nobody died.
Except two people had. A very renowned bush pilot and his son, an also very renowned hand surgeon.
So he fumbled and tried to correct himself that no fire fighters had died.
The father and son were returning home from a stint as volunteer firefighters on the firefront.

He's like the trainwreck that just won't stop wrecking. It's humiliating.

Even better, that whole compensation package for the volunteer firefighters? Yup, as might be expected of Scummo's ilk...it's actually so fcuked up many firies will barely see a dollar of it.

 

[TOADS]

Hot temperatures today and Friday in southeastern Australia will shift to north central Australia by the weekend.

The American models are still hopeful of more rainfall starting later in the weekend through the 22nd of the month. Not enough to break the drought but enough to give fire fighters a chance to bring some of the fires under control.

 

[nimi]

Just when you think Scumbag McFcukFace can't get any worse, he manages it! The bar is on the ground and he's still digging under it!

And he'll keep digging...

The people in power will let your country burn

The response from the Australian government and media to the country’s unprecedented fires are a bleak vision of everyone’s future.

theoutline.com

On the surface, Morrison’s response makes no sense. Even from a cynical standpoint, there seems to be very little to gain in playing down a national crisis of this sort. A strong response rallies the nation. It shows you’re a leader who acts. Best of all, there’s no partisan division to navigate. It is a political truism that everyone, regardless of how they vote, does not want the country to be on fire.

But this isn’t about people, it’s about ideology, and to accept the unprecedented scale of the fires and act accordingly is to accept that the climate is changing and something needs to be done. That’s it. To me, this is the most striking aspect of the crisis — the debate about how best to douse a burning country has been seamlessly press-ganged into service in the ongoing culture war, all of which is amplified and buttressed by an increasingly demented right-wing media and an absurdly powerful fossil fuels lobby.

 

[Garden Kitty]

Explore.org, a charitable organization that runs wildlife cams from a number of different locations in order to increase awareness of animal issues, is doing a matching fundraiser of up to $75,000 to WIRES, a wildlife rescue organization in Australia. They had originally set the target at $10K but the response was so good they increased it to $75,000. It's a small amount given the great need, but every bit helps.

 

[Maofan7]

Blazes flare amid extreme conditions in Australia – as it happened

This blog is now closed. Our live coverage will continue tomorrow morning

www.theguardian.com

 

[misskarne]

As expected, Dunns Road, East Ournie Creek, Green Valley, Mount Youngal, Adaminaby Complex, and Doubtful Gap Trail fires have all joined up. I expect Dunns Road to swallow Atkinsons soon (if it hasn't already; the maps seem to be poorly updated today). East Ournie Creek and Green Valley will also probably hook up with Yellow Bog Road, Pilot, Tin Mines and Geehi.

If the wind blows the wrong way, smoke may end up being the least of Canberra's problems.

 

[Susan1]

I wish I could send some of our rain there. It's supposed to rain practically non-stop during the day today and Saturday.

I remember decades ago coming out of work at lunch and the sky was all gray and dusty looking (near Dayton, OH). Found out later (before the internet) it was from the smoke of a forest fire clear down in Kentucky. I can't imagine how bad it could be in Australia. I feel so sorry for all the roos and koalas (and the people, of course) who don't have anywhere to go.

((Praying you get rain.))

p.s. I AM grateful we are not getting this in snow.

 

[Cachoo]

What if we could send rain? My friend's brother, a pilot, used to work for the UAE seeding clouds for rain in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Is this feasible for California, Australia and those areas overcome by catastrophic fires when there is drought?

 

[TOADS]

Reports I am seeing coming across the news wires is that a big bushfire in Victoria and one in New South Wales have merged to form a megafire that covers 2300 square miles.

How in the name of God are they going to put that one out....

 

[mag]

Reports I am seeing coming across the news wires is that a big bushfire in Victoria and one in New South Wales have merged to form a megafire that covers 2300 square miles.

How in the name of God are they going to put that one out....

That is about 400square miles bigger than Delaware. Just for some perspective. Can water bombers really do anything to a fire that size?

 

[Alilou]

As expected, Dunns Road, East Ournie Creek, Green Valley, Mount Youngal, Adaminaby Complex, and Doubtful Gap Trail fires have all joined up. I expect Dunns Road to swallow Atkinsons soon (if it hasn't already; the maps seem to be poorly updated today). East Ournie Creek and Green Valley will also probably hook up with Yellow Bog Road, Pilot, Tin Mines and Geehi.

If the wind blows the wrong way, smoke may end up being the least of Canberra's problems.

This has been my fear all along. Stay safe @misskarne.

 

[TOADS]

Been viewing a lot of videos from clinics that are rescuing the wildlife from the fires.

There is a growing thread which anyone will find disturbing and that is that the whole ecological system will likely collapse in these areas. The question is does this extend to the unburned areas as well. Long after the fires are finally extinguished the tidal wave of damage to the overall ecology will continue.

This is very scary shit.

 

[misskarne]

What if we could send rain? My friend's brother, a pilot, used to work for the UAE seeding clouds for rain in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Is this feasible for California, Australia and those areas overcome by catastrophic fires when there is drought?

I don't understand the science very well, but I believe you have to have the right types of clouds, and we don't.

Reports I am seeing coming across the news wires is that a big bushfire in Victoria and one in New South Wales have merged to form a megafire that covers 2300 square miles.

How in the name of God are they going to put that one out....

They can't. All they can do is try some semblance of control, and protect what is in its path. Only rain - prolonged, steady rain over weeks - will put it out.

For those watching the maps, the fires I listed above are the ones merging. You can watch them on the map here: https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/fire-information/fires-near-me

 

[overedge]

Been viewing a lot of videos from clinics that are rescuing the wildlife from the fires.

There is a growing thread which anyone will find disturbing and that is that the whole ecological system will likely collapse in these areas. The question is does this extend to the unburned areas as well. Long after the fires are finally extinguished the tidal wave of damage to the overall ecology will continue.

This is very scary shit.

Geographers say that islands are the bellwether for the rest of the world. Anything that can happen on an island - which is a mostly isolated ecosystem - can happen on a continent. Islands give us a chance to get things right before they happen on a larger scale elsewhere

 

[TOADS]

How about a little good news for a change.

Australia fires: Plants photographed regrowing in ashes

Plants are photographed regrowing in parts of Australia ravaged by fire last month.

www.bbc.com

 

[Peaches LaTour]

And the U.S., is sending more firefighters, as well.

Wish Australia could have the rain we have been getting here for the last few days.

Last night on the American National news, they had a clip about the US fire-fighters arriving at the airport in Sydney. Despite all the horror the Aussie's have been through, those who happened to be at the airport when the fire-fighters arrived, stopped & applauded them.

Their warm welcome really touched my heart.

 

[Buzz]

Rescuers race to save Australia's wildlife | Animalkind

When their homes are disappearing around them, that's when animals need us the most.RELATED VIDEO » Koala Leaps Into Car. Scares Man And His Dog: https://you...

www.youtube.com

 

[Maofan7]

Calls for Inquiry Into Government Response to Fires

Australia’s Leader Calls for Inquiry Into Government Response to Fires (Published 2020)

In an interview with the local media, Prime Minister Scott Morrison expressed regret but reiterated that economic concerns would still play a key role in climate policies.

www.nytimes.com

The race to save animal casualties

Saving Kangaroo Island's animal casualties

Wildfires have wreaked devastation to wildlife on Australia's third largest island.

www.bbc.co.uk

Aboriginal planners say the bush 'needs to burn'

Australia fires: Aboriginal planners say the bush 'needs to burn'

What would happen if Australia followed the ancient bushfire management practices of Aboriginal people?

www.bbc.co.uk

Article reads: "Long before Australia was invaded and colonised by Europeans, fire management techniques - known as "cultural burns" - were being practised. The cool-burning, knee-high blazes were designed to happen continuously and across the landscape. The fires burn up fuel like kindling and leaf detritus, meaning a natural bushfire has less to devour."

 

[Garden Kitty]

San Diego Zoo Global matched all the admission fees for a day at the SD Zoo and SD Wildlife Park to raise funds for wildlife rescue. They are also holding an onine fundraiser for people who couldn't go to the zoo in person but want to help. The Organization has also offered the help of its wildlife rescue and research teams.