The 84-year-old dies in Sydney’s Concord hospital as Australia’s months-long fire crisis continues
The death toll from the unprecedented bushfires in New South Wales has climbed to 21 following the death in hospital of an elderly man burned in Cobargo on New Year’s Eve.
The 84-year-old was taken from his home on Tuesday 31 December to South East Regional hospital before he was transferred to Concord hospital in Sydney where he died in the early hours of Saturday.
Continue reading...A massive winter blizzard that buried Newfoundland in snow and cut power to thousands of homes has prompted the government in the Canadian province's capital, St John's, to declare a state of emergency.
Continue reading...Blizzard dumps nearly 80cm of snow on Canadian city of St John’s as government says military reserves may be called up
Canada’s federal government will help Newfoundland on the Atlantic coast dig itself out in the wake of a massive winter blizzard that buried cars and left thousands without power.
The storm on Friday and Saturday dumped as much as 76.2cm (30 inches) of snow on St John’s, the capital of Newfoundland, and packed wind gusts as high as 130km/h (81mph). The snowfall was an all-time record for the day for St John’s international airport.
Continue reading...Four South Koreans and three Nepalis are out of contact after an avalanche close to Annapurna base camp
An avalanche in Nepal’s Annapurna region has left at least seven people missing, including four South Koreans and three Nepalis, officials said Saturday.
The incident occurred at an altitude of around 3,230 metres close to the base camp for Annapurna, one of the highest peaks in the Himalayas, following heavy snowfall on Friday.
Continue reading...Ecologist fears the Macleay River may take decades to recover, with heavy rains likely to affect other waterways
Hundreds of thousands of native fish are estimated to have died in northern New South Wales after rains washed ash and sludge from bushfires into the Macleay River.
Parts of the Macleay River – favoured by recreational fishers – have been turned into what locals described as “runny cake mix” that stank of rotting vegetation and dead fish.
Continue reading...Nine aerial photos depict the crisis from beach to bush, farm to forest, across NSW and South Australia
More than 10.7m hectares of land have burnt so far in Australia’s bushfires – larger than the total area of South Korea, or Portugal, and 1.3 times the size of Scotland.
The ongoing and unprecedented bushfire crisis has spread across six states and multiple months.
Continue reading...Fire-hit areas receive desperately needed rain, as severe thunderstorms cause flooding in Melbourne
Up to 50mm of rain has fallen across parts of New South Wales and Victoria, dampening bushfires even as dozens more continue to burn.
Fire-hit regions of NSW’s Snowy Valley and south coast, and Victoria’s East Gippsland and north-east, received as much as 15mm of desperately needed rain on Wednesday and Thursday, while severe thunderstorms caused flooding in Melbourne.
Continue reading...Last decade was also hottest yet in 150 years of measurements, say scientists
The year 2019 was the second hottest on record for the planet’s surface, according to latest research. The analyses reveal the scale of the climate crisis: both the past five years and the past decade are the hottest in 150 years.
The succession of records being broken year after year is “the drumbeat of the Anthropocene”, said one scientist, and is bringing increasingly severe storms, floods, droughts and wildfires.
Continue reading...The eruption of Taal volcano near Manila spewed lava into the sky, leaving villages blanketed by heavy ash. The falling ash pushed aviation officials to temporarily shut down the capital’s main airport, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights and stranding tens of thousands of travellers.
Continue reading...Experts warn donors should be aware that money given to the RFS can’t be used to help bushfire victims or recovery efforts
The New South Wales Rural Fire Service trustee may be unable to distribute donated funds, including more than $50m raised by the comedian Celeste Barber, to other states or to bushfire victims, legal experts have warned.
At least $70m has been raised for the RFS, other state fire services, the Red Cross and wildlife charities, as part of a global fundraising effort during Australia’s horror bushfire season.
Continue reading...Apocalyptic scenes give glimpse of what would be normal conditions in 3C world
The bushfires ravaging Australia are a clear sign of what is to come around the world if temperatures are allowed to rise to dangerous levels, according to scientists.
“This is what you can expect to happen … at an average of 3C [above pre-industrial levels],” said Richard Betts, professor of geography at Exeter University. “We are seeing a sign of what would be normal conditions in a 3C world. It tells us what the future world might look like. This really brings home what climate change means.”
Continue reading...Thousands of people have fled the area surrounding Taal volcano in the Philippines, which has been erupting since Sunday. It has ejected ash up to 15km into the sky and has generated bursts of lightning within its ash cloud
Continue reading...Fires take an enormous toll on wildlife, with huge numbers of mammals, birds, reptiles and insects killed
Australia’s continuing bushfire crisis has taken an enormous toll on wildlife, with huge numbers of mammals, birds, reptiles, insects and other species killed.
The ecologist Chris Dickman has estimated more than a billion animals have died around the country – a figure that excludes fish, frogs, bats and insects.
Continue reading...Drone footage published on social media shows thick ashfall from the Taal volcano covering buildings, roads and trees in Batangas province in the Philippines. Clouds of ash were blown more than 62 miles (100km) north of the volcano, reaching Manila and forcing the main international airport to close. More than 500 flights were cancelled
Continue reading...A video captured from a nearby home in Tagaytay City shows volcanic lightning and a thick ash column erupting from the Taal volcano in the Philippines.
Flights have been suspended and thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate as the volcano spewed ash 1,000 metres into the sky, prompting a warning from the Philippines of an 'explosive eruption'.
Continue reading...Red-hot lava gushed out of the Taal volcano in the Philippines after a sudden eruption of ash and steam forced villagers to flee en masse and shut down offices and schools. Clouds of ash blew more than 60 miles north, reaching the capital, Manila, and forcing the shutdown of the country’s main airport. There have been no reports of casualties or major damage from the eruption that began on Sunday
Continue reading...Flights have been suspended and thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate as the volcano spewed ash up to nine miles into the sky, prompting a warning from the Philippines of an ‘explosive eruption’
Continue reading...Acoss calls on government to boost the Disaster Recovery Payment after fires destroy more than 2,000 homes
Australia’s peak welfare body is calling on the federal government to immediately boost emergency payments for those affected by bushfires, saying it is concerned the current amount is “seriously inadequate”.
The Australian Council of Social Service chief executive, Cassandra Goldie, has written to the prime minister, Scott Morrison, with a range of recommendations the organisation says are urgently needed to help provide relief to those affected by the bushfire crisis that has destroyed more than 2,000 homes.
Continue reading...The prime minister is clearly under pressure as the bushfire crisis lays bare the consequences of a warmer planet
It’s too early to say whether the prime minister, Scott Morrison, is speaking with a forked tongue when he says the government will “evolve” its climate change policy.
What appeared on Sunday to be a shift in rhetoric on the government’s emission reduction targets may be meaningful – or it may yet prove to be deliberately duplicitous.
Continue reading...Prime minister acknowledges he could have handled things better in the ‘strained’ emotional environment on the ground
Scott Morrison has indicated the government could bolster its carbon emission reduction efforts as he flagged a royal commission into Australia’s horror bushfire season and warned of a “new normal” that will require a greater role for the commonwealth.
Speaking at length about the government’s response to the bushfires which have claimed 28 lives and more than 2,000 homes, the prime minister also acknowledged for the first time that he could have done better in the “strained” emotional environment on the ground, despite visiting affected communities “in good faith”.
“There are things I could have handled on the ground much better,” Morrison told ABC Insiders’ host David Speers on Sunday.