Leaked report lays bare environmental devastation of Victorian fires

The ecological devastation of the Victorian bushfires has been laid bare in a leaked report which warns some species are likely to already be extinct – even as authorities brace for many more weeks of fires.

About a quarter of Victoria's sooty owls have been lost.

"Almost all" eastern ground parrots' Victorian habitat has already been destroyed, according to a draft report on the bushfire emergency delivered to government earlier this week.

Read the story from The Age by Bianca Hall and Peter Hannam - “Leaked report lays bare environmental devastation of Victorian fires.”

NSW and Victoria bushfire conditions to worsen with fears blazes could be unstoppable

Authorities fear bushfires already burning across south-east Australia could be unstoppable under high temperatures and hot, gusty winds predicted today.

Authorities fear conditions will be as bad as New Year's Eve.

There are also grave fears dry lightning could start new fires across parts of New South Wales and Victoria that haven't already been devastated over recent days.

Temperatures in parts of each state will reach into the 40s, with Albury-Wodonga expected to hit a maximum of 46 degrees Celsius.

The Navy yesterday evacuated around 1,000 residents and holidaymakers from the East Gippsland town of Mallacoota, after fire razed parts of the town on New Year's Eve.

Read the ABC News story - “NSW and Victoria bushfire conditions to worsen with fears blazes could be unstoppable.”

If you are under 34, you have never experienced a month of below average temperatures

This week has seen a mass worldwide protest on climate change. The Extinction Rebellion is playing for keeps, and the protesters are setting out to make noise and force politicians and authorities to deal with them.

If you are under 34, you have never experienced
 a month of below average temperatures.

If you think those protesting are just a bit too angry and annoying, let us remember the situation is urgent and is no longer something for future generations to worry about – we are at a point where a majority of Australians now living will be affected by its impact.

Last month came the news that July 2019 was the hottest month on record.

No big deal, just the hottest global average temperature in the 140 years of records kept by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Not coincidentally, in the same month, Arctic sea-ice coverage hit a record low of 19.8% below average. Down our end of the planet, Antarctic sea-ice also shrank to an unprecedented level – some 4.3% below the 1981-2010 average.

The northern hemisphere summer just gone was the hottest on record as well. All this during a period when there was no El Niño to drive higher temperatures.

Read the story from The Guardian by Greg Jericho -  “If you are under 34, you have never experienced a month of below average temperatures.” 

‘Hell is coming': week-long heatwave begins across Europe

Authorities have urged children and older people to stay indoors and issued severe warnings against dehydration and heatstroke as an unprecedented week-long heatwave begins its advance across continental Europe.

Tourists in Rome drink from a public fountain
 during the unusually early summer heatwave.

Meteorologists said temperatures would reach or even exceed 40C from Spain to Switzerland as hot air was sucked up from the Sahara by the combination of a storm stalling over the Atlantic and high pressure over central Europe.High humidity meant it would feel like 47C, experts warned. “El infierno [hell] is coming,” tweeted the TV meteorologist Silvia Laplana in Spain, where the AEMET weather service forecast temperatures of 42C by Thursday in the Ebro, Tagus, Guadiana and Guadalquivir valleys and warned of an “extreme risk” of forest fires.

Read the story from The Guardian by Jon Henley - “‘Hell is coming': week-long heatwave begins across Europe.”

Every Oklahoma County under state of emergency as historically wet spring continues

Authorities in Tulsa, Oklahoma are hoping 70-year-old levees will hold, according to Axios, and every county in the state has declared an emergency over flooding, CNN reported Tuesday. As many as six people have died in the state over the past few days because of extreme weather, including floods and tornadoes.

Water, water, water everywhere in a historically wet Spring.

This has been a historically wet spring for the South and Central U.S. 

The National Weather Service said that Mississippi River flooding in at least eight states has lasted its longest since the “Great Flood” of 1927, USA Today reported Wednesday. And now, following two weeks of storms in Oklahoma and Kansas, the Arkansas River in eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas has swollen to record levels, Axios reported Wednesday. 

Read the Nation of Change story by Olivia Rosane - “Every Oklahoma County under state of emergency as historically wet spring continues.”

Rural Victoria's power networks set to buckle under weight of wind energy.

Authorities say two coal-fired power stations' worth of renewable energy won't be able to reach the grid without major upgrades to networks in Victoria's west.

Wind turbines are set to dot the landscape in Victoria's
west but the extra power will be wasted without transmission
 upgrades.

Developers are lining up to build wind and solar projects in towns to the west and north of Ballarat, in what is being hailed as another gold rush.

"We've got $3 billion worth of projects currently underway," said Stuart Benjamin, the chairman of a Victorian Government-commissioned taskforce that is overseeing the boom in the Grampians.

"And if some of the limitations that we're seeing in terms of infrastructure are addressed, we could possibly double or even triple that number.”

Read the story from ABC News by Charlotte King - “Rural Victoria's power networks set to buckle under weight of wind energy.”

(Listen to the podcast from “Climate Conversations” featuring Charlie Prell, the New South Wales organiser for the Australian Wind Alliance) 

State braces for 'unpredictable' fires and authorities issue air quality warning as extreme heat descends on city

Victoria is set to swelter through the hottest day of the summer so far with extreme heat and strong, gusty winds expected to stir up dust prompting a health warning from authorities.

Melbourne is set to sweat through its hottest day in three years.

Emergency services are also bracing for "uncontrollable, unpredictable and fast-moving" fires.

The state's Environment Protection Authority has warned Melbourne and Geelong residents that the conditions are likely to raise dust and reduce air quality.

EPA Air Quality Scientist Gavin Fisher said in areas in such as Brooklyn and South Geelong, the air quality would be poor and could increase the risk of health problems for those with  heart and respiratory conditions.

Read the story from The Age by Melissa Cunningham and Anna Prytz - “State braces for 'unpredictable' fires and authorities issue air quality warning as extreme heat descends on city.”

Queensland fires could see heat, dry lightning and potential tropical cyclone add to state's problems

Authorities say Sunday will be a day of vigilance for fire-ravaged parts of Queensland, amid the threat of blazes caused by lightning and the possibility of a tropical cyclone brewing in the northern Coral Sea.

As 110 fires continue to burn around the state, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) warned it could be three or four days before relief arrives, with no significant rain on the horizon in central Queensland.

But thunderstorms without rain are a very real possibility, which could mean an increased chance of fires started by dry lightning.

Read the ABC News story - “Queensland fires could see heat, dry lightning and potential tropical cyclone add to state's problems.”

Cyclone Nora now expected to cross Queensland coast on Sunday as category three

Authorities now believe Severe Tropical Cyclone Nora will cross the far north Queensland coast some time shortly after midday (AEST) on Sunday afternoon as a category three system.

On Saturday afternoon, Tropical Cyclone Nora was moving south east at 20kph.

At an emergency briefing in Brisbane on Saturday afternoon, Bureau of Meteorology state manager Bruce Gunn said it was expected to cross the coast somewhere between Pompuraaw and the Gilbert River mouth.

"The good news, if I can make any good news out of this story, is that we're no longer expecting a category four system to affect the Gulf but it's still a very severe category three system with very destructive winds at its core," Mr Gunn said.

Read the ABC News story - “Cyclone Nora now expected to cross Queensland coast on Sunday as category three.”

Cape Town to set up disaster operations HQ as the city faces Day Zero

South Africa's police and military will help secure water collection sites in drought-stricken Cape Town if authorities must turn off most taps on Day Zero, a date projected to fall in the first half of April, according to the city.

Some residents are supplementing water supply
by collecting from natural springs in the city.

Hospitals, key economic and industrial areas and densely populated areas with a higher risk of disease would be exempt from a water cut-off, municipal authorities said.

The authorities plan to open a disaster operations centre on Monday to prepare for a possible closure of taps in a city known internationally for its natural beauty and tourist attractions.

South Africa's second-biggest city ramped up contingency plans as the water crisis hurt tourism.

Politicians bickered over alleged failures to offset a looming disaster blamed on explosive population growth over the past two decades and several years of drought that scientists say was possibly exacerbated by man-made global warming.

Read the ABC News story - “Cape Town to set up disaster operations HQ as the city faces Day Zero.”

‘Blast furnace': Warning over heat risk as Victoria braces for extreme fire danger

Victorians should cancel outdoor activities during extreme heat on Saturday, authorities say, as emergency services roster on more paramedics for what is expected to be the hottest day in two years.

Acting Premier James Merlino, Emergency Management Victoria
 commissioner Craig Lapsley and Ambulance Victoria commander
 Paul Holman provide an update on the heat and fire risk. 

The advice comes as authorities are also bracing for an extreme fire risk, with strong northerly winds set to whip the state as temperatures climb to near-record levels.

Read the Melbourne Age story by Amber Schultz and Benjamin Priess - “‘Blast furnace': Warning over heat risk as Victoria braces for extreme fire danger.”

Don’t go in the water, Environment Protection Authority warns

Don't go swimming at Melbourne's beaches today – it could make you sick.

It's best to keep out of the water at Melbourne's beaches. 

That's the message from the authorities, who are urging people to steer well clear of every Port Phillip beach as the bacteria-filled runoff from the weekend's storms pours into the bay.

Indeed it may not be safe to swim tomorrow or right through the weekend.

The Environment Protection Authority is doing water-quality testing on Tuesday, which will determine how bad things are in the bay and how long people should avoid the water.

Read Liam Mannix’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Don’t go in the water, Environment Protection Authority warns.”