Sympathy for Our "Down Under" Members

[Tas_mania]

Prof Schellnhuber of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research has come up with a climate emergency equation.

Here is the Climate Emergency Equation.
Emergency = R × U = p × D × r / T

R=Risk
U=Urgency
p=probability
D=Damage
r=react
T=Time
Urgency (U) is the time it takes you to react to an issue (r) “divided by the intervention time left to avoid a bad outcome (T)”

Of course people in power don't understand maths, equations or reality unless it applies to money. Even then they are very selective in their thinking.

[Tas_mania]

A woman has taken the remains of her burned down house and put it in front of Australia's Parliament House Canberra.
They are very slow learners in Canberra but soon reality will sink-in.

[oldmangrumpy]

Never before have we seen a situation like this; in New South Wales 116 fires are still burning madly in the strong winds with temperatures in the high 30s Celsius; 70 of those fires are 'out of control'. I'm sure some of the devastating pictures are being shown world wide.

And all of this while we are in a period of record drought too.

The smoke haze has now been with us for 3 weeks and the levels are consistently above the 200 mark considered “hazardous”. In many cases the levels have been recorded above 600 in southern and western Sydney — where millions of people live. The sun is just a red blob in the smoke haze.

Today 21 firefighters arrived from Canada to help us out; thanks for that. There is no rain in sight and by Tuesday next week the temperatures here will be in the mid 40s Celsius.

[level_0]

what desolation

[oldmangrumpy]

Another thank you to the firefighting personnel arriving today from Alaska, Nevada, Montana, Colorado, Arizona, Idaho, Utah, California, Oregon, Hawaii, and Virginia. There has been no cloud today, just smoke haze and we have not seen the sun.

[Tas_mania]

I see in the media Sydney's air quality has been shocking this week. Visibility has been poor and there are health implications.

If it's OK I would like to share a photo of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe?

The worst drought in a century has slowed the once spectacular falls to a trickle.

[oldmangrumpy]

Well it seems that whilst Zimbabwe is dry, Kenya to its north is suffering floods and getting the Indian Ocean rain that normally falls in Australia at this time of year.

The fires are still raging in New South Wales; 4,000 square kilometres (1,500 square miles) have been burnt out now along with 800 homes and it seems there is nothing that can be done to stop the fire moving towards more heavily populated areas. Smog in Sydney is now the norm.

And in the last week fires near Perth in Western Australia have (and still are) causing great concern. Temperatures there have been around 40C for a week and soon that heatwave will hit us - forecast for my location is between 41C and 43C for the next few days! Further water restrictions kicked in last week and no rain is forecast before May next year!

Can somebody please go and fix that Indian Ocean Dipole!

[Pat625]

OMG, prayers to all. It seems the destruction in so many parts of our world just is not slowing down. I'm not scientific enough to know all the factors, I just wonder what is coming next.

[Tas_mania]

Australians read today that our Prime Minister (who I won't name) cancelled his Xmas holiday in Hawaii to return home as a number of fire fighters died and more were injured as bush fires surrounded the Prime Ministers home city of Sydney.

What I think will be remembered by history is the current government has been running a cover-up of climate change as the cause of drought and bushfires in Australia in 2019.

[oldmangrumpy]

And still we burn. There seems to be no end to these fires.

Now Victoria and South Australia are suffering badly; in the latter, fires in the Adelaide Hills have almost wiped out the wine industry there and in the former around 30,000 tourists as well as 45,000 locals have been told to leave the East Gippsland region as weather conditions are expected to worsen today and are categorised as 'catastrophic'.

Here in New South Wales 911 (ironic #) homes have been destroyed, 100 fires are still burning with 45 not contained. Temperatures and wind changes keep the fires spreading and in western Sydney tomorrow it will be 44C, rising to 47C on Saturday, again with local categorisation as 'catastrophic'.

Every day brings a smoky sky and a red, blurry sun. The ecological and wildlife devastation is unimaginable and the drought continues.

[Wallace]

And still we burn. There seems to be no end to these fires.

Now Victoria and South Australia are suffering badly; in the latter, fires in the Adelaide Hills have almost wiped out the wine industry there and in the former around 30,000 tourists as well as 45,000 locals have been told to leave the East Gippsland region as weather conditions are expected to worsen today and are categorised as 'catastrophic'.

Here in New South Wales 911 (ironic #) homes have been destroyed, 100 fires are still burning with 45 not contained. Temperatures and wind changes keep the fires spreading and in western Sydney tomorrow it will be 44C, rising to 47C on Saturday, again with local categorisation as 'catastrophic'.

Every day brings a smoky sky and a red, blurry sun. The ecological and wildlife devastation is unimaginable and the drought continues.

This is most devastating.

[gimper66]

I also have all DOWN UNDER people in mind,that they all safely get through the new year 2020

gimper66

[Tas_mania]

It's New Years day in Australia now. There was a weird tension between celebrating New Years fireworks and having
thousands of people sheltering on beaches to escape the worst bushfires ever.

This page has images of whats happening along the east coast of Australia.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/dec/31/australia-bushfires-towns-devastated-and-lives-lost-as-blazes-turn-the-sky-red

[oldmangrumpy]

So so sad as these 100s of fires continue to burn in OZ in all states. In this state of New South Wales historic villages have been destroyed and coastal towns cut off with no power, no food, no petrol and no access anyway.

Again in this state alone, an area greater than the size of Belgium has now been burnt . Many hundreds of people fled to the beaches at popular holiday resorts down south and a navy troop landing ship has been sent to evacuate them.

This photo probably says it all -

[Ella]

What a catastrophe, I've no words for it ...

[Issabella]

It is devastating. I heard the news for a long time when those fires started and they still persist. It is terrible and I pray that they will definitely stop and the people affected find soon enough strength to overcome the losses.

[level_0]

How sad, no words either for what I feel.

Here the news is mainly centered on France and on strike movements ... Once only fires were mentioned for 5 seconds on a chain, otherwise a chain regularly shows Australian customs in action ...

[Wallace]

Sorry,
but I can't bear to look at those photos.
They have me in tears every time.

[AnMal]

Australia, you're in our thoughts and our prayers. And so are all the people from around the world helping to fight the fires.

[oldmangrumpy]

Thank you all for your kind thoughts for those people and the wildlife affected by these ever growing fires.

Those many many fires are still burning in all states of Australia, with particularly devastating impact in South Australia, Victoria and here in my state New South Wales. Some of the larger fires are merging to form 'mega fires'. This state is large at around 810,000 square kilometres although much is desert. However, the Fire Commissioner reported this morning that the total 'fire front' they are trying to control from spreading further, was around 15,000 kilometres. That is BIG!

Just a note here that most of our rural firefighters are volunteers, so we appreciate the further help we are receiving from overseas sources.