Australia rainforest burns as bushfires arrive early – Queensland faces worst fire threat in recorded history – “This isn’t the new normal. We’re going to see much worse. The pace of the change is going to accelerate.”

By Damien Cave
9 September 2019

SYDNEY, Australia (The New York Times) – The conservationists who built the secluded Binna Burra Lodge in Australia’s lush mountains more than 80 years ago hoped to protect and share the natural beauty of the surrounding rainforest.

But over the weekend, a bushfire destroyed the beloved getaway, one of Australia’s oldest nature resorts — drawing tears from neighbors and alarm from officials who warned that climate change and drought threatened to bring Australia its worst fire season on record.

“This is an omen, if you will,” said Andrew Sturgess, who is in charge of fire prediction for the state of Queensland, where the lodge had stood in Lamington National Park. […]

Fire season itself has become nearly a year-round trial, according to fire officials. Independent studies have also shown that the number of hot days in Australia has doubled in the past 50 years, while heat waves have become hotter and longer. Extreme weather events, such as flooding and cyclones, have intensified in frequency and strength, as well.

“We’re seeing records breaking left and right,” said Robert Glasser, a visiting fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and the former head of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.

“This isn’t the new normal,” he added. “We’re going to see much worse — the pace of the change is going to accelerate.”

Joëlle Gergis, a climate scientist and writer at the Australian National University, warned that Australia’s experience “is a sign of things to come.”

She said she was especially alarmed by the losses near the Binna Burra in the Gold Coast hinterland.

“It is devastating to see these usually cool and wet rainforests burn,” she said. “Although these remarkable rainforests have clung on since the age of the dinosaurs, searing heat and lower rainfall is starting to see these wet areas dry out for longer periods of the year, increasing bushfire risk in these precious ecosystems.” [more]

Australia Bushfires Arrive Early, Destroying Historic Lodge in ‘Omen’ of Future

Multiple communities remain under threat as fires burn across Queensland

By Jessica Marszalek, Kate Kyriacou, Jeremy Pierce, Elise Williams, Torny Miller, and Sarah Matthews
8 September 2019

(The Courier-Mail) – Binna Burra residents have been warned to seek shelter on Sunday night, with firefighters no longer able to control a fire burning out of control both sides of Binna Burra Rd.

At 8.50pm Sunday, a dangerous fire was burning on both sides of Binna Burra Rd, south of Summerville Rd. It was travelling in an easterly direction. The fire was expected to have a life-threatening impact on the community.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services said it was now too late to leave the area, with driving conditions extremely dangerous.

Queensland is facing its worst bushfire threat “in recorded history”, with dry conditions and little chance of rainfall over the next four months.

With 57 fires still burning across the state and that number expected to rise Sunday afternoon, Fire Inspector Andrew Sturgess has delivered an ominous prediction to authorities, including acting Premier Jackie Trad, at a meeting of the Queensland Disaster Management Committee on Sunday.

Inspector Sturgess said at no time in Queensland’s history had conditions for bushfires been so catastrophic.

“It is an historic event,” he told reporters after.

“We’ve never seen fire danger indices, fire danger ratings, at this time of the year, as we’re seeing now. Never seen this before in recorded history.

“Fire weather has never been as severe this early in spring.” […]

Inspector Sturgess said there was little chance of any rain in the next several days, weeks, or even into the months ahead towards Christmas.

“The likelihood of seeing average rainfall is low and we need well above average rainfall to turn this trend around,” he said.

“So this is an omen if you will, a warning of the fire season that we’re likely to see ahead in the south-eastern parts of the state.” […]

At another community meeting, in the Gold Coast hinterland, QFES Assistant Commissioner Kevin Walsh said he had never seen anything like the fire front that tore through communities like Sarabah and Beechmont.

“The conditions they faced last night were ferocious,” he said.

“They stood shoulder to shoulder on the front line.

“I’ve never seen anything as bad as that.” [more]

Multiple communities remain under threat as fires burn across Queensland