On Australia’s Kangaroo Island, a fight to stay alive

KANGAROO ISLAND, Australia — The bend in the eucalyptus branch seemed like a custom home-design feature given how perfectly it fit his tiny form. There in the crook of the tree was a koala, mildly burned and all alone.

A koala climbs a charred eucalyptus tree as
members of Humane Society International
try to catch it on Kangaroo Island, Australia.

His patch of wood, shared once by hundreds of other koalas, kangaroos and the occasional wombat, had been scorched black in the recent wildfires. For the moment, he was safe there about 50 feet up. But there was no water or food; the eucalyptus leaves that koalas eat had vanished in the flames.

On the ground, there was only black earth and carcasses. Dozens of carcasses, babies and adults, teens and what a rescuer said looked like twins — all so burned even the carrion birds would not touch them.

The fires that roared through southeastern Australia for months razed hundreds of houses and killed more than 20 people, including several firefighters. A scar the size of Portugal now marks the land, a varying mix of tropical forest, eucalyptus and red-earth plains.

Read the story from The Washington Post by Scott Wilson - “On Australia’s Kangaroo Island, a fight to stay alive.”

Kangaroo Island bushfire emergency sees tourist lodges ravaged as firefighters battle 'unstoppable' blaze’

Fire crews in South Australia have spent the night battling an emergency bushfire on Kangaroo Island, which is threatening to engulf most of Australia's third-largest island.

Multiple scrub fires continue to burn across Kangaroo
 Island's western half, such as this one in Cape Torrens.

On Friday night, Kangaroo Island's Ravine fire was described as "virtually unstoppable" and the Country Fire Service (CFS) has issued bushfire warnings for the entire 4,400-square-kilometre island. 

At 3:00am Saturday, a watch and act warning was issued for the western end of the island, which includes areas west of Parndana such as Flinders Case, Vivonne Bay, Kelly Hill, Western River, Hanson Bay, Gosselands, Middle River and Stokes Bay. 

Read the ABC News story - “Kangaroo Island bushfire emergency sees tourist lodges ravaged as firefighters battle 'unstoppable' blaze’.”

Larsen C: What will happen when the huge Antarctic ice shelf cracks?

A massive crack in one of Antarctica's largest ice shelves is very close to breaking point, and when it fractures it will create an iceberg bigger than Kangaroo Island.

The rift in the Larsen C ice shelf has
 accelerated over the past month.

The Larsen C ice shelf is located on the Antarctic Peninsula, which juts out towards South America.

A large fracture, which has been growing across the ice sheet for decades, has recently started to accelerate, said Sue Cook, a glaciologist from the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre.

According to the latest data by a team of UK scientists, the fracture ripped open by 17 kilometres in the last week of May and turned towards the ocean.

Dr Cook said the lengthening fracture was within 13 kilometres of the sea, and there was nothing to stop it fracturing.

When it breaks it will create an iceberg of 5,000 square kilometres.

Read the ABC News story - “Larsen C: What will happen when the huge Antarctic ice shelf cracks?”