Doctors warn people may die as public health impact from Australian fire pollution bites

As unprecedented bushfires continue to burn along Australia’s east coast, medical professionals are warning of unpredictable and lasting consequences for public health.

Doctors say the lasting impact of the bushfires and
 ‘the concern with respect to the air quality’ is justified.

“I think for the population, what they feel, and the concern they have about this, is probably reasonable,” said Chris Moy, chair of the Australian Medical Association’s ethics and medico-legal committee. 

Moy said the lasting impact of the bushfires and “the concern with respect to the air quality” was founded. He said “there are people who are going to probably die from these conditions”, particularly those “right at the edge of lung capacity”.

Read the story from The Guardian by Alyx Gorman - “Doctors warn people may die as public health impact from Australian fire pollution bites.” 

Short, sharp shocker looms, with fireys braced for a 'nasty day

Emergency services are on alert for a dangerous Friday, with extreme heat and strong, gusty winds forecast and the Country Fire Authority bracing for "uncontrollable, unpredictable and fast-moving" fires.

Fire crews are braced for a 'killer day.'CREDIT:

A statewide total fire ban is in place, with temperatures forecast to reach scorching highs.

Melbourne is expecting a top of 42 degrees, while Geelong is forecast to hit 43. In the state’s north-west, Mildura and Swan Hill are preparing for a whopping 46 degrees.

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued severe weather warnings for damaging winds of up to 100 km/h in the afternoon and a risk of thunderstorms and dry lightning which could spark fires but with little rain.

Read the story from The Age by Anna Prytz - “Short, sharp shocker looms, with fireys braced for a 'nasty day.

Climate change will accelerate extreme weather events in the coming years

Humanity is now facing an ever-increasing threat of unpredictable and extreme weather, climate scientists warn.

This Jan. 4 Geocolor image from the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) GOES-16 satellite captured the record
"bomb cyclone" nor’easter that battered the
 East Coast of the United States in January 2018.

While global warming is creating more powerful storms and record-breaking, drought-driven wildfires, it would be a mistake to view these events as the “new normal,” they say. The planet has not reached a new climate stability, so the years ahead could be quite a lot worse.

“‘New normal’ implies that we reach some new sort of equilibrium and that's where things stay, whereas what we're looking at is an ever-shifting baseline,” says Penn State professor and atmospheric scientist Michael Mann.

Read the PRI story by Adam Wernick - “Climate change will accelerate extreme weather events in the coming years.”