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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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