BUSHFIRE SKY

And the stars shine on...

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

BUSHFIRE SKY

It is bushfire season in Southeastern Australia and yesterday, Thursday 22nd of February, the temperature maximum in Melbourne approached 40˚C. In the Northwest of the state, the temperatures were higher. In Beaufort, a small town near Ballarat, a bushfire started and in a day had burnt 5000 hectares (50 km2) of bushland, with homes and farms destroyed. Today, 10,000 hectares had been burnt and the fire is still burning.

The sky in Melbourne yesterday afternoon was brownish red with a red sun on account of the smoke high in the atmosphere. Fortunately a cool change came through with some rain and things went back to normal in the City. However, while it lasted, the unearthly, apocalyptic light and the red sun was quite frightening. Our climate is changing, our deforestation progresses at an alarming rate and such horrific and catastrophic events are now becoming more and more common and severe.

About 1000 firefighters and dozens of aircraft are still battling (Friday night) an uncontrolled bushfire burning around the Pyrenees Ranges in regional Victoria to Ballarat’s west. The towns of Elmhurst and Amphitheatre on the Pyrenees Highway remain under threat as winds continue to push the fire north-east. It is heart-breaking that farming communities have to evacuate farms and properties, leaving their livestock behind, with no guarantee they will have a home and property to come back to. Even sadder that some of these small farmers have no insurance...

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

AS THE WEATHER CHANGES

Today was another topsy-turvy day in Melbourne, with the temperature climbing to 36˚C in the early afternoon. Severe thunderstorms bringing heavy rain and hail to parts of Victoria then started later on, improving air quality in Melbourne, after "hazardous" ratings across much of the state prompted concerns about the long-term health impacts of bushfire smoke.

Here is the view from Southbank, looking towards the southwest and to Port Phillip Bay, first at 3:28 pm, the at 5:32 pm (rain falling) and finally at 6:42 pm (still raining and the temperature fallen to 21˚C!). The fourth image is a zoom towards the South Melbourne Town Hall and the Bay, much obscured by smoky haze. The last image was taken on a fine day a couple of years ago, showing the same view...

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the My Corner of the World.

MELBOURNE BY NIGHT

Although the Australian bushfires continue to burn, and Melbourne's smoke-filled atmosphere today was declared "hazardous" with air quality the worse than any other major city in the world, some relief is expected later in this week. Rain is forecast in the bushfire-affected areas and it is hoped that this will help the fire-fighting efforts. We anticipate the best scenario and an end to this major natural disaster, the magnitude of which is not realised by everyone who hears about it.

Everyone in Melbourne tries to carry on as usual, although the omnipresent smoke and the constant news bulletins are reminder enough of the hardships still endured by many of our compatriots in the affected areas and the animals in the farms and the devastated forests. Numerous fund-raising efforts are being organised, as well as many events whose proceeds will give much relief to fire-affected areas.

This post is part of the  Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

BUSHFIRES

Unfortunately, this Travel Tuesday is a sad one as it concerns our current nationwide emergency with tens of bushfires still burning across Australia.

The 2019–20 Australian bushfire season involves a series of bushfires that are currently burning across Australia, predominantly in south-east Australia. The 2019–20 bushfire season is of notable intensity compared to previous seasons as it has burned an estimated 8.4 million hectares (21 million acres; 84,000 square kilometres; 32,000 square miles), destroyed over 2,500 buildings (including over 1,300 houses) and killed 25 people as of 5 January 2020.

The bushfires are regarded by the NSW Rural Fire Service as the worst bushfire season in memory. In December 2019, the New South Wales Government declared a state of emergency in New South Wales after record-breaking temperatures and prolonged drought exacerbated the bushfires. It was estimated that close to half a billion animals in New South Wales were killed by the ongoing fires.

In eastern and north-eastern Victoria large areas of forest burnt out of control for four weeks before the fires emerged from the forests in late December, taking lives, threatening many towns and isolating the towns of Corryong and Mallacoota. A state of disaster was declared for East Gippsland. Significant fires also occurred in the Adelaide Hills and Kangaroo Island in South Australia. Moderately affected areas were South Eastern Queensland and areas of southwestern Western Australia, with a few areas in Tasmania and the ACT also being impacted.

For several days now, Melbourne has choked under hazy, yellow-grey skies with smoke from East Gippsland drifting over the city. This is a minor inconvenience compared to the staggering loss of life and property in fire-ravaged areas and the immense ecological disaster that has occurred.

You can help the thousands of victims who have lost loved ones, property and the roofs over their heads, here. 

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

SMOKY SKY

Currently in Melbourne, we are experiencing very bad air quality, and there is a choking smell of burning with widespread hazy conditions as the smoke from the devastating East Gippsland bushfires drifts across hundreds of kilometres to reach the City. Here you can see the hazy outline of the city skyline across the Port Phillip Bay.

You can help the thousands of victims who have lost loved ones, property and the roofs over their heads, here.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.