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.
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.
Those fires are terrible. A foretelling for the world as well.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry. I cried when I saw the stories about the people driven to the ocean and all the poor animals.
ReplyDeleteMy heart breaks for all affected by the fires.
ReplyDeletePraying for Australia.
Terrifying and so sad. My heart aches for Australia.
ReplyDeleteSharing your pain from Bendigo - here's to rain, clear air and don't even get me started on the politics of it all. I have added a link to your post on my post on Bushfires.
ReplyDeleteThank you Wren
my heart feels with you !!!
ReplyDelete