Wildfires Rage Across Australia

Intensive thunderstorm ignites wildfires in Western Australia

An emergency warning remained in place in Western Australia’s South West as a dozen wildfires raged.

At least 130 personnel are battling an out of control fire in forest between Bridgetown and Nannup, which has consumed more than 1,700 hectares in less than 24 hours.

Australia experienced its hottest month on record in January 2013, with both the average mean temperature of 29.68°C and the average mean maximum temperature of 36.92°, topping previous records set in January 1932, Australian Bureau of Meteorology (ABOM) reported.

“The heatwave in the first half of January was exceptional in its extent and duration. The national average maximum temperature on 7 January was the highest on record. Numerous stations set records for the most days in succession above 40°C, including Alice Springs (17 days) and Birdsville (31 days).”

January heatwave set all-time record high temperatures in many locations including Sydney (45.8°C on 18 January) and Hobart (41.8°C on 4 January). The highest temperature recorded during the heatwave was at Moomba in South Australia (49.6°C on 12 January), ABOM reporetd.

Extreme Rain Events

Extreme rain events plagued coastal areas of Queensland and New South Wales as a low pressure system associated with ex-tropical cyclone Oswald tracked steadily south between 22 and 29 January.

“Many coastal areas from Sydney to Cape York received more than 200 mm of rainfall. The most extreme rainfalls were in the region between Rockhampton and Bundaberg, and in the ranges along the New South Wales – Queensland border region.” BOM reported.

Some 1,496 mm of rain fell in Upper Springbrook in the Gold Coast hinterland in eight days, and 1,426 mm in Boolaroo Tops, southwest of Gladstone.

Related Links

• Disaster declared in NSW
• Australian floods force evacuation of thousands in 2 states

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February 13, 2013 – DISASTER CALENDAR SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,123 Days Left 

Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,123 Days Left to ‘Worst Day’ in the brief Human  History
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• Europe: The First Phase of Collapse Has Started 
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Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
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• Mass Die-offs

Oh, Australia!

submitted by an Australian reader

Before reading this, you may be interested to browse 10 Facts on Climate Change

O Coal Divine! What hast thou Done? Are you out of your jaundiced mind?

“Australian coal and iron ore company Resourcehouse said over the weekend it had signed a record $60 billion coal supply deal with Chinese power stations, a move analysts said underscored Chinese companies’ growing demand for energy to fuel the country’s economic development.” China Daily reported.

In what’s Resourcehouse’s and Australia’s biggest export contract, the Australian company from hell will supply 600 million tons of coal over 20 years to China Power International Development Ltd, owned by China Power Investment Corp (CPI), Clive Palmer, its chairman was quoted as saying.

Previously Fire-Earth exposed The Australian Clean Energy Ruse

Great! But what’s Australia doing with its large reserves of coal? And how does that make it any cleaner on a global level if someone else burned the Australian coal instead?

Australia has 5% of global reserves of black coal (~ 40 Gigatons, Gt) and 24% of global reserves of brown coal (~37.5 Gt). With a total annual production of about 390 Mt, Australia is the world’s largest exporter with about 30% of world total coal export trade (250Mt) and nearly 5% of world consumption.

Coal also comprises Australia’s largest single export (~ $A23 billion), an industry with up to 150,000 employees, and is used to generate about 85% of Australia’s electricity.

With a population of about 21.5 million (0.3% of world population, ranking 51st globally), Australia accounts for 2.5% of the world’s energy production (world’s eighth largest producer), with coal being its main source of energy production (Coal 54%, Uranium 28%, Natural gas 10%, Oil 6% and Renewables less than 2%) . [Source: Australian Coal Association and others.]

Why the ruse?

The proposed solar-power plant network would serve to free more of the Australian coal, making it available for export. This makes perfect economic sense, especially as the price coal is expected to increase.

As for the GHG emissions from burning Australian coal, who gives a damn! No, really, since when did the Australians gave a Sydney shrimp about rest of the world, or health of the planet?

The  coal will be produced from a major new project in Australia’s Queensland,  Palmer was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Chinese power companies are gobbling up coal from other countries to fuel growth, said Han Xiaoping, chief information officer of energy portal China5e.com, reported China daily

“With such a long-term contract, Chinese companies can have access to sustainable supply that is beneficial to their development,” Han said.

“China’s power consumption is expected to rise 7 percent this year, in line with the anticipated economic growth rate of 8 percent, according to the State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC). Such growth will in turn boost the country’s demand for coal, Han said.”

China’s coal imports currently come from developing Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia and Vietnam. “New coal imports from Australia will also diversify the country’s coal supplies, which will further ensure the country’s energy security, he said.”

China will worry about the impacts of coal consumption later.

The $70 billion coal deal is said to make Clive Palmer,  chairman of Resourcehouse, the Australian mining company,  the country’s richest person.

Related Links:

• The Australian Clean Energy Ruse
• A Living Hell Heated by Australian Coal
• CO2e
• Australian Coal and the Planet
• Australian fires toll may exceed 200
• Australia hit by another man-made disaster
• Australia: World’s Smallest Continental Dust Bowl
• Could Dust Storms Bury Sydney, Australia?
• How Large Is Your Dust Storm?
• And dust to dust …

• Australia: Uranium Dust Threat Real?
• Australia: What can burn, will!
• Image of the Day: Human Excesses
• Australian fires toll may exceed 200
• A Living Hell Heated by Australian Coal
• Torrential Rains Flood Northern Australia
• You want to lose weight without exercise?
• Australian Coal and the Planet
• Vast swarms of locusts sweep across Australia
• Murray-Darling River Communities Are Struggling

• Hell Hath No Fury Like the Australian… Bushfire!
• The day God [sic] washed his hands off St. Andrew’s church
• Future Scenarios
• Nuking Earth for Lifestyle
• World Problems: The Root Cause Matrix
• Giga Trends
• World CO2 Emissions
• Look me straight in the eye & tell me you can’t
• Protect Economy from Climate??!

• Blind scientists examining the economic elephant
• How Much Carbon Dioxide Does Your Money Make?
• Cosmic Scale Evil
• Index of Human Impact on Nature Carbon Footprint of Your Dollar
• The Billionaires’ contribution to CO2 pollution
• Stop Burning Earth
• Energy: 286W
• Failing Ecosystems
• First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities

Australia: The Lost Continent?

Human Induced Planetary Antiphase Series

How Much Longer Could Australians Cope?

Australia on catastrophic fires warning

Fire authorities in South Australia have declared a catastrophic fire danger for two districts,  the Flinders and North-West Pastoral districts.

The catastrophic fire warning comes in the wake of February’s bushfires, which killed at least 173 people across Victoria.

Extreme temperatures, low humidity and strong winds arte forecast. The temperature in some parts of Australia have topped 40 C, setting new records for November.

Weekly highest maximum temperature for Australia

Tropical OLR and Wind Anomalies During the Last 30 Days

Positive OLR anomalies (suppressed convection and precipitation, red shading) were present over
Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, and Australia. Source: ENSO Cycle: Recent Evolution, Current Status and Predictions Update prepared by Climate Prediction Center / NCEP 16 November 2009

Fire Warning UPDATE: Officials downgraded the warnings to severe, 3rd highest on their new scale, Thursday morning.

Related Links:

• Australia: World’s Smallest Continental Dust Bowl
• Could Dust Storms Bury Sydney, Australia?
• Australia: What can burn, will!

• Australia: Uranium Dust Threat Real?
• And dust to dust …
• Australia declares ‘natural’ disaster [again]
• The Australian Clean Energy Ruse
• Stick the Policies, Stop the Climate Change!
• Australian fires toll may exceed 200

Links to HIPAP and Collapse:

• Nature’s ‘Deselection’ Engine Revving Up!
• Murphy’s law has no time vector!
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• State of the World
• Earth’s Human Induced Antiphase Nears Completion

• The Death of Homo Sapiens Sapiens (Part 1)
• Food Crisis
• Failing Ecosystems
• A Most Powerful Mechanism of Collapse
• Failing Ecosystems

• Point of NO return
• Human Impact on Nature
• Is a Future Possible?
• Can Humans Enter the Next Phase of the Future?
• Emerging Scenarios

• Giga Trends
• The First Wave of the World’s Collapsing Cities
• Nuking Earth for Lifestyle
• Volcanoes Killed Off Dinosaurs
• Climate Change Spreads “Deadly Dozen” Diseases

• Burning Earth
• The Rape of Proserpina

Image of the Day: Human Excesses

Mother Nature or Arson?

Nature Robs What Human Excesses Wall Street Fails to Steal

Australian couple stand stunned among the ruins of their home in Victoria. Photo: John Woudstra. Image may be subject to copyright.

Bushfire devastation. (User submitted via ABC Contribute: shaz67).  Image may be subject to copyright.

Bushfire crisis: Grisly body search continues as death toll rises.The search for bodies in burnt-out houses continues. (AFP: William West). Image may be subject to copyright.

[“The Terracotta Horse.”] A horse that was trapped by the raging fires lies dead at the side of the road near the community of Kinglake, north east of Melbourne, Australia February 9, 2009. Weary firefighters and rescuers pulled the remains of dozens of people from charred buildings on Monday as the death toll rose to 130 [173] from southern Australia’s deadliest bushfires. REUTERS/Rick Rycroft/Pool.

Earth Observatory: Bushfires in Southeast Australia

Natural color

False color

NASA Earth Observatory images acquired February 9, 2009

Bushfires in southeastern Australia turned deadly over the first weekend of February 2009. Out-of-control fires raced into small communities and towns in Victoria, and more than 100 people had died as of February 9, according to news reports. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC News) reported that many of those who died had remained to protect their homes. Among the most devastated communities were those in the Kinglake area and Marysville. As of February 9, firefighters were expressing concern about the increased activity of the fire around the town of Dederang, southwest of Lake Hume.

This pair of images shows the Barry Mountains of central Victoria on February 9, 2009. The image at top is a natural-color (photo-like) view captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite. Places where the sensor detected active fire are outlined in red. The lower image is the same scene shown in false color, using visible, near-infrared, and shortwave infrared light. Burned areas are brick red, and places of intense heat—often a sign of open flame in this kind of image—are glowing pink. Smoke turns a transparent blue, which makes it easier to see the ground.

Fire is a regular occurrence in the forests and grasslands of southeastern Australia, even in the absence of people. In the hot, dry summer months, vegetation dries out; lightning triggers many natural wildfires. However, in the past decade, the area has experienced several severe droughts, and in late January and early February, parts of South Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales were also paralyzed by an exceptional heatwave. Conditions were primed for devastating fires, some of which appear to have been started by lighting and others, according to news reports, by arson. The event was the worst fire disaster in Australia’s history.

NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, GSFC. Caption by Rebecca Lindsey.

Australian fires toll may exceed 200

The Australian govt. blames ‘arsonists’ for the worst bushfires in the country’s History

As the known death toll reaches about 120, and the bushfires incinerate up to 1,000 homes, the government blames ‘arsonists’ for starting the fires.

“We will throw the book at you if you are caught,” New South Wales Premier Nathan Rees reportedly said.

Below is a list of Australia’s  recorded death toll and property damage from bushfires (Source: BBC UK)

• February 16,  1983.  75 dead, 2,300 homes destroyed in “Ash Wednesday” bushfires in Victoria and South Australia
• January 8, 1969.  At least 22 dead, 230 homes lost in rural Victoria
• February 7,  1967.  62 dead, 1,300 homes destroyed in fires in Hobart, Tasmania
• January 13, 1939.   71 dead, 700 homes destroyed in “Black Friday” fires in Victoria
• February – March 1922.  60 died in Gippsland, eastern Victoria

Number of alleged arsonists arrested in the above incidents: NONE reported.

A bushfire burns in the Bunyip Sate Forest near the township of Tonimbuk, Victoria, Australia 07 February 2009. Authorities have issued urgent fire warnings to towns near a bushfire burning out of control east of Melbourne. EPA/ANDREW BROWNBILL. Image may be subject to copyright.

A total of 12 bushfires are burning out of control across Victoria, comprising about 26 blazes,  covering up to 225,000 hectare of land.

Bushfires in Southeast Australia

This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite shows multiple large fires (outlined in red) burning in Victoria on February 7. Huge plumes of smoke spread southeast, driven by fierce winds. The large version of the image shows a large dust storm blowing over interior deserts to the northwest. These fires sprang up and exploded in size in just a few short hours. The image captured by the Terra MODIS sensor just a few hours prior to this image showed no sign of these fires. Twice-daily images of southeastern Australia are available from the MODIS Rapid Response Team. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Caption by Rebecca Lindsey.

Related Links:

• A Living Hell Heated by Australian Coal
• Torrential Rains Flood Northern Australia
• Australian Floods: Crocodiles Swam in the Streets
  

Related News Links:

• At a glance: where bushfires are burning
• In photos: ‘Bushfires rage in Australia’
• Eight bushfires out of control in NSW