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 […]

A firefighter passes a burning home as the Hillside fire burns in San Bernardino, California, on Thursday, 31 October 2019. The blaze, which ignited during red flag fire danger warnings, destroyed multiple residences. Photo: Noah Berger / AP Photo

California is becoming unlivable – Wildfires and lack of affordable housing exacerbate each other

By Annie Lowrey 30 October 2019 (The Atlantic) – Right now, wildfires are scorching tens of thousands of acres in California, choking the air with smoke, spurring widespread prophylactic blackouts, and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people. Right now, roughly 130,000 Californians are homeless, and millions more are shelling out far more in […]

A Brazilian soldier puts out fires at the Nova Fronteira region in Novo Progresso, Brazil, on 3 September 2019. Photo: Leo Correa / AP

The Amazon hasn’t stopped burning. There were 19,925 fire outbreaks last month, and “more fires” are in the future – “The government is looking to promote mining and ranching in the Amazon”

By Jorge L. Ortiz 18 October 2019 (USA Today) – The proliferation of fires in the Amazon rainforest drew international attention in August, especially when French President Emmanuel Macron called for urgent action. Since then, the eyes of the world have shifted elsewhere as House Democrats launched an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, Hurricane […]

This animation shows winds over the western United States between 20 October 2019 and 28 October 2019. The strongest gusts appear bright yellow; weaker winds are purple. The wind data comes from the Goddard Earth Observing System Model 5 (GEOS-5), an experimental weather model that scientists at NASA use to analyze global weather phenomena. The GEOS model ingests wind data from more than 30 sources, including ships, buoys, radiosondes, dropsondes, aircraft, and satellites. Video: Joshua Stevens / Lauren Dauphin / NASA Earth Observatory

Image of the Day: Satellite view of Diablo winds spreading the Kincade Fire in California

By Kasha Patel 30 October 2019 (NASA) – On 23 October 2019, a blaze erupted in Sonoma County, California, near the small town of Geyserville. In six days, flames from the Kincade fire spread across more than 75,000 acres (303 square kilometers), becoming the largest wildfire by acreage in California in 2019. As of October 29, the fire had […]

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 […]

A car drives through the Kincade fire, 27 October 2019. Photo: Los Angeles Times

California’s governor declares statewide emergency – Kincade fire has wine country under siege as winds gust up to 96 mph

By Anita Chabria, Taryn Luna, Maura Dolan, Teresa Watanabe, and Luis Sinco 27 October 2019 SANTA ROSA, California (Los Angeles Times) – Fueled by powerful winds, the massive Kincade fire continued its southwest march across Sonoma County, burning winery properties and threatening to jump Highway 101 as more than 2 million people across the region were […]

Air pollution (fine particulate matter PM2.5) in the United States, 2009-2018. in 2016, pollution started to increase significantly in the U.S. Midwest and West. Data: National Bureau of Economic Research. Graphic: The New York Times

America’s air quality worsens since Trump election, ending years of gains – “This increase is a real about-face”

By Nadja Popovich 24 October 2019 (The New York Times) – New data reveals that damaging air pollution has increased nationally since 2016, reversing a decades-long trend toward cleaner air. An analysis of Environmental Protection Agency data published this week by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University found that fine particulate pollution increased 5.5 percent on average across the […]

The Kincade Fire burned through the Soda Rock winery in Healdsburg, California, on Sunday, 27 October 2019, one of at least 79 structures destroyed so far. Photo: Eric Thayer / The New York Times

California enters uncharted territory: Massive blackouts, historically dangerous wind, nearly 200,000 people evacuated – “This is definitely an event that we’re calling historic and extreme”

By Phil Willon, Joe Mozingo, Rong-Gong Lin II, and Maura Dolan 26 October 2019 SAN FRANCISCO (Los Angeles Times) – Northern California braced for a weekend in uncharted territory as Pacific Gas & Electric prepared to shut off power to more than 2 million people as the region faced one of the worst periods of […]

Traffic moves past a gas station during a blackout in Calistoga, California on 24 October 2019. Photo: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg

PG&E warns of largest intentional blackout ever as windstorm approaches – “The upcoming wind event has the potential to be one of the strongest in the last several years”

By David R Baker and Mark Chediak 25 October 2019 (Bloomberg) – PG&E Corp. warned it will shut off power again on Saturday to as many as 2.5 million people as violent winds batter the state — in what will be California’s largest intentional blackout ever. The outages will impact up to 850,000 homes and businesses […]

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial