Graph of the Day: Land surface temperature anomalies for Australia, 1 January – 8 January 2013

By Michael Carlowicz23 January 2013 (NASA Earth Observatory) – January 2013 brought record-setting heat to Australia; not just for days, but for weeks. Temperatures regularly eclipsed 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in multiple locations across the continent. According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Australia set a new record for the highest temperature averaged […]

Australia bull is blackened survivor from Chadwick Downs’ death valley – ‘Welcome to the killing fields’

By Tim Barlass21 January 2013 (Sydney Morning Herald) – Red Valentino, through the miracle of artificial insemination, has thousands of his progeny in South Africa, North America, Nicaragua, Colombia, Paraguay … and beyond. Described as one of the most genetically influential bulls of his breed, Red Valentino is, in common parlance, a super stud, one […]

Canberra heading for January heat record as storms spark fire fears

By Stephanie Anderson22 January 2013 Canberra is sweltering through what could be its hottest January on record, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. After hitting a record high of 42 degrees last week, the month’s average could be pushed into the record books, meteorologist Rebecca Kamitakahara said. “We are on track to exceed our January […]

Smoke haze greets Melbourne at dawn – ‘To think that in 24 hours this fire went from nothing to 40,000 hectares is quite staggering’

By  JASON DOWLING and BENJAMIN MILLAR 21 January 2013 (Cootamundra Herald) – Victoria is about to enter its most dangerous month historically for bushfires with the deadly Gippsland blaze still a major threat, Premier Ted Baillieu has warned. ”This is a big fire and it is likely to burn for some time,” Mr Baillieu said […]

Video: On Victoria’s bushfire front – Blaze expands from 950 to 20,000 hectares – ‘It was unbelievable to see the whole sky light up’

19 January 2013 (10 News / Sydney Morning Herald) – Bushfires in Victoria’s east blaze out of control as one man dies, homes are lost, and thousands of hectares are burnt through. The blaze expanded from 950 to 20,000 hectares around Lake Glenmaggie and Coongulla. On Victoria’s bushfire front Technorati Tags: Australia,heat wave,drought,global warming,climate change,wildfire,forest […]

U.S. mayors focus on ‘local warming’, urge Obama to act

By Valerie Volcovici and Patrick Rucker 18 January 2013 WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Reeling from an historic drought, the hottest year on record and more frequent wild weather, mayors from a number of U.S. cities urged the White House this week to take the lead on setting an agenda to address climate change. City leaders said […]

80 percent of Australia’s Warrumbungle National Park incinerated

By Tim Barlass20 January 2013 The impact of the Coonabarabran fires is revealed in a startling new map obtained from the Rural Fire Service. Overlaying the heritage-listed Warrumbungle National Park with the area devastated by fire shows the nature reserve to be almost obliterated. Only a small area in the south-west of the park, the […]

‘Terrible conditions’ for Australia firefighters in record heat wave – ‘Imagine being in this heat next to a blast furnace’

By Ilya Gridneff19 January 2013 (Sydney Morning Herald) – Hundreds of firefighters battled the most atrocious conditions imaginable on Friday to contain about a dozen out-of-control blazes from the state’s far south to the Hunter Valley, desperately hoping a late cool change would bring relief. By late on Friday, fires near Cessnock, Coonabarabran, Young, and […]

Sydney endures hottest day ever recorded – Emergency services council warns government of worse to come

By Ilya Gridneff, Tom Arup, and Jacob Saulwick19 January 2013 SYDNEY, Australia (SMH) – Sydney endured its hottest ever day on Friday, with records smashed across the city and thousands of people suffering from the heat. The mercury topped 45.8 at Sydney’s Observatory Hill at 2.55pm, breaking the previous record set in 1939 by half […]

Gillard visits charred ‘moonscape’ of Coonabarabran – ‘Flames at the height of the observatory tower – it was an amazing firestorm’

By Tim Barlass17 January 2013 Prime Minister Julia Gillard flew into Coonabarabran on Thursday to witness first-hand the devastating effects of the bushfire that claimed at least 49 homes. At a press conference, the Prime Minister announced financial support for those who had lost homes or been evacuated. Ms Gillard drove through the Timor Road […]

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