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 […]

Satellite view of Gondwana rainforest fires, 4-15 September 2019. Photo: NASA Worldview

Drought exacerbates wildfires in Australia rainforest

By Michael Carlowicz 14 September 2019 (NASA) – Fire season in the Australian states of Queensland and New South Wales got off to an early and ugly start in September 2019. Fueled by a long and deepening drought, more than 100 fires burned in forest and bush areas near the southeast coasts, including some subtropical […]

The Sentinel-2 satellite captured a headfire in heath fuels burning as a part of the Shark Creek bush fire near Yamba, 8 September 2019. Photo: Nicholas McCarthy

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 […]

From Global North to Global South, a winter and summer of record temperature extremes – Only small portions of Earth saw record cold weather

By Christopher C. Burt 8 March 2019 (Weather Underground) – On 2 March 2019, Dover, Tasmania, attained an all-time record high of 40.1°C (104.3°F), the hottest reading ever observed in that Australian state during the month of March. Just the next day (March 4 in the U.S.) a temperature of -46°F was measured at Elk […]

Australia breaks weather records with hottest ever summer – Brisbane had record run of 16 days straight at or above 32°C

By Naaman Zhou 28 February 2019 (The Guardian) – Australia has endured its hottest summer ever, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, breaking the previous record set six years ago. The 2018-19 summer, which produced near 50C days and topped temperature highs across the country, has officially exceeded the previous record set in 2012-13, which […]

Could climate change make it harder to get insurance in Australia? “There’s $88 billion at risk in terms of damage from coastal erosion in Australia”

By Ange Lavoipierre and Stephen Smiley 5 February 2019 (The Signal) – At the moment, Townsville is more or less underwater and large parts of Tasmania are on fire.Summer in Australia has always been extreme, but some corners of the country are experiencing climate-driven disasters that are worse than ever — and more of them […]

No relief for Queensland bushfire crisis – “We have never seen this in our state before”

By Robyn Wuth 30 November 2018 (Australian Associated Press) – There is no relief in sight for Queensland’s bushfire crisis as extreme heatwave conditions continue to grip the state on the first day of summer.There have been no lives lost as wildfires raged across central Queensland this week but 110 are still burning around the […]

Bushfires rage across Queensland amid “highly unusual” heatwave conditions – “In this part of the world we have not experienced these conditions before. It is unprecedented”

26 November 2018 (BBC News) – Hundreds of Australians have evacuated their homes due to bushfires amid “unprecedented” weather conditions in the state of Queensland, officials say. About 40 bushfires are burning across the state following a heatwave, said Queensland Fire and Emergency Services. The most serious blaze, 450km (280 miles) north of Brisbane, has […]

Rainfall tallies plummet after Australia’s driest September on record – “Below average rainfall covered almost the entire country”

By Peter Hannam 1 October 2018 (The Sydney Morning Herald) – Australia has notched its driest September on record, with less than a third of the usual rainfall for the month, extending the dry spell that has farmers and firefighters increasingly desperate for rain. Victoria posted its second driest September, also collecting just a third […]

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