Extreme weather events across the world caused more than $100 billion worth of damage in 2019. The most financially costly disasters were wildfires in California, which caused $25 billion in damage, followed by Typhoon Hagibis in Japan ($15 billion) and floods in the American mid-west ($12.5 billion) and China ($12 billion). The events with the greatest loss of life were floods in Northern India which killed 1,900 and Cyclone Idai which killed 1,300. Data: Christian Aid. Graphic: The Guardian

15 climate disasters of 2019 that cost more than $1 billion – “It is no wonder youth around the world are taking to the streets to demand that we write a different story towards a better future”

27 December 2019 (Christian Aid) – Extreme weather, driven by climate change, hit every populated continent in 2019, killing, injuring and displacing millions and causing billions of dollars of economic damage, according to a new report by Christian Aid. […] Counting the Cost 2019: a year of climate breakdown identifies 15 of the most destructive droughts, […]

The water at Balmoral beach in New South Wales has turned black after Australia's recent deadly bushfires, 9 December 2019. Local woman Imogen Brennan shared videos of the beach on social media. Video: Imogen Brennan / BBC

Video: Bushfire ash washes up on Australian beach

24 December 2019 (news.com.au) — Ash and burned debris from trees washed up on beaches on the New South Wales south coast as weeks-old bushfires burned on Thursday, 24 December 2019. Two major uncontained bushfires had threatened coastal communities and forced evacuations in the area. The Currowan Fire had burned over 200,00 hectares since breaking […]

RFS volunteers and NSW Fire and Rescue officers fight a bushfire encroaching on properties near Termeil, New South Wales, Australia, on Tuesday, 3 December 2019. Photo: Reuters

“Mega fire” near Sydney may burn for weeks as people struggle to breathe – “We cannot stop these fires, they will just keep burning until conditions ease”

By Lidia Kelly 6 December 2019 MELBOURNE (Reuters) – A giant bushfire on the edge of Sydney, which has blanketed the city in smoke causing a spike in respiratory illnesses and the cancellation of outdoor sports, will take weeks to control but will not be extinguished without heavy rains, firefighters said. Thousands of weary firefighters, […]

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 […]

Fires burn in Pará state, Brazil, in September 2019. Jair Bolsonaro accused Leonardo DiCaprio of ‘giving money for the Amazon to be torched’. Photo: Nelson Almeida/ AFP / Getty Images

Brazil’s president Bolsonaro claims Leonardo DiCaprio paid for Amazon fires – “Our negligent and incompetent president, responsible for an environmental dismantling unprecedented in our country, wants to blame DiCaprio”

By Tom Phillips 29 November 2019 (The Guardian) – Brazil’s president has falsely accused the actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio of bankrolling the deliberate incineration of the Amazon rainforest. Jair Bolsonaro – a populist nationalist who has vowed to drive environmental NGOs from Brazil – made the claim on Friday, reportedly telling supporters: “This Leonardo DiCaprio’s […]

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, […]

An aerial view of the Cachimbo Biological Reserve in Altamira, Brazil, reveals the scale of the burned land in the Amazon basin, in August 2019. Critics of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro trace the recent spike in fires to his administration’s anti-environmental policies. Photo: João Laet / AFP / Getty Images

Amazon rainforest sees biggest spike in deforestation in more than a decade – “Forests fall, indigenous leaders are killed, and environmental laws are shattered”

By Colin Dwyer 18 November 2019 (NPR) – Picture, for a second, just how vast New York City is. All told, including Staten Island, the Bronx and every block in between, the massive metropolis takes up more than 300 square miles. Now, try to picture a hunk of land more than 12 times that size. That’s […]

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 […]

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