Firefighters are overwhelmed by flames at a bushfire in Orangeville, west of Campbelltown, 6 December 2019. Photo: Nick Moir / The Sydney Morning Herald

Video: Australia firefighters flee “explosion of fire” in Sydney’s south-west – “There will be no relief, not in the immediate future”

By Lucy Cormack, Nick Moir, and Megan Levy 6 December 2019 (Sydney Morning Herald) – Firefighters were forced to run from an “explosion of fire” in Sydney’s south-west on Thursday night, as the bushfire crisis again tightened its grip over the state. At the peak of the crisis, seven fires around NSW were classified as […]

Toni Doherty rescues a koala from a bushfire in New South Wales, 19 November 2019. Video: Guardian News

Video: Woman risks life to save burnt koala from Australia bushfire – “I knew if we didn’t get him down from the tree, then he would have been up there amongst the flames”

By Eric Todisco 20 November 2019 (People) – Amid the raging bushfires in South Wales, Australia, a hero emerged to save the life of a young koala. [Warning: Desdemona has a pretty thick skin when it comes to doom, but this video made me weep like a child. –Des] The dramatic rescue was caught on […]

A koala with burns suffered from Australia’s unprecedented early bushfires receives treatment for dehydration at the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital in November 2019. Photo: Saeed Khan / AFP / Getty Images

Koalas are not functionally extinct, but they need our help

By Jackson Ryan 24 November 2019 (CNET) – The koala is one of the most iconic Australian marsupials. The grey fuzzballs spend nearly all their time in the trees, surviving on a diet of toxic gum leaves and a healthy routine of extended naps. As Australia suffered through unprecedented bushfires in the past two weeks, […]

This animation depicts the abundance and direction of black carbon blowing through the atmosphere from 1 November 2019 to 18 November 2019. The data for the animation come from the GEOS forward processing (GEOS-FP) model, which assimilates information from satellite, aircraft, and ground-based observing systems. Video: Joshua Stevens / NASA Earth Observatory

Smoke plumes from Australia bushfires crossing oceans

By Michael Carlowicz and Adam Voiland 21 November 2019 (NASA) – Three weeks into November 2019, springtime bush fires continued to blaze across southern and eastern Australian states. As of November 20, government agencies counted 45 fires in South Australia and 49 in New South Wales, and dangerously dry and windy weather was fanning flames […]

Greater Sydney dam levels on 17 November 2019. Dams in greater Sydney are currently at 46.6 percent capacity. According to the NSW water authority, they are on track to hit 40 percent, which means Level 2 water restrictions would be imposed by February 2020 or March 2020. Since June 2019, the greater Sydney area in New South Wales state has been under Level 1 water restrictions, which limit water usage in filling pools or running hoses unattended. It is the first time the restrictions have been implemented since 2003, during a drought that lasted until 2009. If dam levels drop just a few percentage points in greater Sydney, residents could face even harsher water restrictions. Graphic: WaterNSW

As deadly Australia bushfires rage, Sydney may be running out water

By Jessie Yeung 15 November 2019 (CNN) – Australia is reeling from deadly bushfires and the worst drought in decades — but fears are now growing that things could get worse, as a water shortage in the country’s biggest city begins to bite. Four people have died in this year’s blazes, which have been exacerbated […]

Aerial view of smoke from bushfires blanketing mountain ranges, as seen during a commercial flight over northern New South Wales, 16 November 2019. Photo: Tracy Nearmy / Reuters

Devastating bushfire conditions to worsen in Australia – “Until we get significant rainfall, the fires will not go out”

By Lidia Kelly 17 November 2019 MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Rising temperatures, lightning strikes and erratic winds are set to fan wildfires in Australia in the week ahead, officials said on Sunday, with emergency crews already working day and night to contain more than 130 blazes. The state of New South Wales, where 367 homes have […]

Satellite view of smoke from wildfires in New South Wales, Australia, 6 November 2019 - 14 November 2019. Photo: NASA EISDIS Worldview

Another total fire ban in place for Sydney as death toll rises to four – “You haven’t had bushfires like these bushfires before”

By Helen Pitt, Lisa Visentin, Laura Chung, Jenny Noyes, and Sally Rawsthorne 14 November 2019 (The Sydney Morning Herald) – A total fire ban is in place in Sydney and seven areas across the state today, as the death toll from NSW bushfires has climbed to four and two men were charged over lighting fires […]

Firefighters drive through bushfires in New South Wales, 8 November 2019. Authorities in Australia say an "unprecedented" number of emergency-level bushfires are threatening the state of New South Wales (NSW). Video: NSWRFS / BBC

Australia bushfires: Record number of emergencies in New South Wales – “We are in uncharted territory. We have never seen this many fires concurrently at emergency warning level.”

8 November 2019 (BBC News) – Australian authorities say an “unprecedented” number of emergency-level bushfires are threatening the state of New South Wales (NSW). More than 80 blazes were raging across the state on Friday. Gusty winds and up to 35C heat have exacerbated the fires, many of which are in drought-affected areas. We just […]

Smoke rises from the Darwank fires near Forster-Tuncurry on the New South Wales mid north coast, 30 October 2019. Photo: Martin Von Stroll

Hundreds of koalas perish as Australia bushfires rage – “This is just a national tragedy”

By Amy Woodyatt 30 October 2019 (CNN) – More than 350 koalas are feared to have been killed by bushfires in Australia’s New South Wales state, animal experts say. The blazes — which have been burning near the coastal township of Port Macquarie since Monday — have destroyed more than 2,000 hectares (4,492 acres) of […]

Views of the Condamine River from a farm at Cecil Plains, Queensland, Australia in December 2018 in August 2019; a dam at a Coleyville farm in Queensland’s Scenic Rim in 2017 compared to the dry scene in 2019. Photo: Sarah Pearce / Amanda Bolton

Historic Australia drought steals lives of a generation crying for action – “This is a direct impact of climate change. I don’t care what anybody says.”

By Tom McIlroy 4 October 2019 Stanthorpe, Queensland (Financial Review) – The dirt underfoot as dry as anyone can remember, Mike Hayes sees numbers everywhere as he walks through dusty rows of grapevines. A celebrated winemaker in Queensland’s Granite Belt region, he crunches rainfall data in his head, trying not to consider the worst. “In […]

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