Festival goers to Music and Arts Festival, Pitch, near the Grampians in Western Victoria, have been advised to leave amid warnings over extreme heat and fire danger. Organisers have refused to cancel the event.
There is a total fire ban declared for most of Victoria, plus threat of #bushfires with a Severe #heatwave this weekend with temperatures topping 39C or 40C.
Surge in extreme forest fires fuels global emissions
"Climate change and human activities have led to more frequent and intense forest blazes over the past two decades."
"The increased numbers of forest fires was partially driven by the frequent heatwaves and droughts caused by climate change...In turn, the CO2 emitted by forest fires contributes to global warming, creating a feedback loop between the two.”
"Humans also played a part. “Many forest fires were actually caused by humans when they were, for example, building fires to get warm at night, lighting fireworks or discarding cigarette butts."
"Every state is in the firing line for #bushfires this Summer according to the latest forecast released on Thursday by the National Council for Fire & Emergency Services (AFAC).
#Australia has already experienced “record-breaking dry conditions and warmer than average temperatures during early spring,” according to the AFAC summer bushfire outlook.
“Hot and dry conditions are expected to persist into the new year for many locations.”
Logging practices:
"It's basically dead" AI reveals the legacy of decades of logging in Victoria
"An AI-based analysis of 20 years of VicForests’ logging, researchers say, shows the scale of failed regeneration in Victoria’s state forests.The data, which has been shared exclusively with the ABC, suggests that 20 per cent of Victoria’s state forests have not regenerated after logging.... That’s almost 13,000 hectares of state forest the analysis found to be standing in a state of ruin."
"Now the state is shutting its native logging industry in a matter of weeks, and the forests that were once given to Victoria’s state-run logging agency, VicForests, are being returned to the public."
"By law, the logging agency is required to regenerate the areas it has logged and hand them back to the public in a healthy state. But until now, how much that has actually happened has largely been a mystery."
Overnight showers helped crews trying to contain a fire on the Darling Downs west of Brisbane.
However Queensland Fire and Emergency Services say the blaze at The Pines near Millmerran is still not under control with 11 crews on site on Monday.
A “not safe to return” warning is current for residents in the area.
“The fire near Flamingo Road is still burning. It is travelling towards The Pines,” the QFES warning said.
“If you left the area, it is not safe to return. Firefighters are working to contain the fire.”
Overall there are 39 fires burning across Queensland on Monday.
But the Bureau of Meteorology believes assistance may be on the way for Darling Downs firefighters with showers forecast for the southeast for the rest of the week.
RFS warns: As of 8am, there are 89 #BushFires burning around NSW, with 27 not yet contained. There are currently 9 fires burning at a 'Watch and Act' level. It's important you monitor the changing conditions and stay up-to-date through Hazards Near Me and #RFS website
The Beetaloo gas field is a climate bomb
How did CSIRO modelling make it look otherwise?
"If it is allowed to proceed, this single project could undo all of our efforts to cut emissions. Beetaloo and Middle Arm are a climate bomb. They will produce vast volumes of emissions which cannot be offset. The atmosphere doesn’t respond to clever accounting, overly optimistic projections and reliance on offsets – only on how many tonnes of emissions end up there."
"The International Energy Agency has shown we have to slash demand for fossil fuels 25% by 2030 and 80% by 2050 to keep heating under 1.5°C and limit the worst effects of climate change." >
Putting minds at ease in a climate emergency with a six-tonne concrete bunker
"The lowest income countries produce one-tenth of global emissions, but are the most heavily affected by climate change. Bunkers are for the people who can afford it. We are externalising the cost of climate change and it is unequally distributed."
Oh goody! Can’t wait 😒 #Bushfires one day, #floods the next: why Australia can expect more ‘compound events’
Floods or fires are worrying enough, but as Gippsland has experienced this week, combined they are even more extreme, experts say