Man in his 60s was fighting large blaze near Ravensthorpe, about 500km south-east of Perth
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A farmer working frantically to protect his property from a fast-moving bushfire has died after his vehicle was engulfed in flames.
The man aged in his 60s was operating a front-end loader as he tried to create a fire break at West River, about 500km drive south-east of Perth on Monday afternoon.
Continue reading...Sydney’s Observatory Hill peaks at 37C on Wednesday – below the 39C forecast – as the mercury in other parts of the city neared 40C
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Two men have died after being pulled from the water at a Victorian beach amid wild weather in the state.
On Wednesday evening, Victoria police confirmed two men were found unresponsive in the water at Frankston beach, on the Mornington Peninsula, just after 5pm. The men, who are yet to be identified, could not be revived.
Continue reading...Of 200 fires in the past 44 years, half of the fires that cost US$1bn or more were in the last decade
Wildfires tore through central Chile last year, killing 133 people. In California, 18,000 buildings were destroyed in 2018 causing US$16bn (A$24bn, £12bn) in damage. Portugal, Greece, Algeria and Australia have all felt the grief and the economic pain in recent years.
As the headlines, the death tolls and the billion dollar losses from wildfires have stacked up around the world, so too have the rising temperatures – fuelled by the climate crisis – that create tinderbox conditions.
Continue reading...BoM prediction follows much wetter than average autumn for northern and eastern Australia, and much drier one for south
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Australia’s winter will be warmer and wetter this year, with higher than average day and night temperatures, and above-average rainfall likely in central and interior parts of the country.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s long-range forecast said parts of the tropical north, south-east and south-west could expect typical winter rainfall, including coastal areas of New South Wales affected by the May floods, and parts of South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania where there have been prolonged dry conditions.
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Continue reading...Fire in black sheoak forest of East Gippsland would destroy the birds’ food supply, conservationist says
Glossy black cockatoos could be pushed towards extinction in Victoria if planned burns of 13,000 hectares of forest go ahead, ecologists and conservationists warn.
The Victorian government is being urged to abandon the burn, which is intended to reduce bushfire risk.
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Continue reading...Around 90,000 hectares of remote country in the state’s north-west have been razed after fires sparked by lightning strikes
Fires that have razed 90,000 hectares of remote Tasmanian wilderness, including world-heritage listed areas and parts of the famous Overland walking track, could burn for weeks as firefighters battle to contain blazes in remote terrain.
By late on Friday, more than 20 fires – which were sparked by dry lightning strikes on 3 February – had a combined perimeter of about 1,200km in the state’s north-west.
Continue reading...Research shows in tough times people often let home and contents insurance lapse, which could lead to dangerous decision to stay
People are more likely to risk their lives in bushfires if they are uninsured or underinsured, experts have said.
In the chaos of an approaching fire, most people struggle to make rational decisions; having no house insurance could feed into making the dangerous decision to stay and protect a home, bushfire behaviour and management professor at the University of Melbourne, Trent Penman, said.
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Continue reading...Australian mainland states permit killing of nearly 5 million annually as part of industry supplying meat and leather products
Wildlife advocates are calling for a halt to the commercial harvesting of kangaroos in Victoria’s Grampians region after bushfires there.
Wildlife Victoria warned of “long-term impacts” on native plants and animals due to the fires, which burned through 76,000 hectares of national park and farmland, and called for a stop to the controversial practice until the impact on kangaroo populations could be fully assessed.
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Continue reading...Exclusive: The kaputar slug, which can grow longer than a human hand, was almost wiped out in the black summer bushfires of 2019-20
A giant, fluorescent pink slug’s comeback on Mount Kaputar has been mapped by eager citizen scientists.
The kaputar slug grows up to 20cm long – outstripping the average human hand – and 6cm wide. The only place it exists in the entire world is on an extinct volcano in NSW’s Mount Kaputar national park.
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Lambie says Albanese decision to campaign over holidays ‘bizarre’
Senator Jacqui Lambie has questioned whether Anthony Albanese would call an early election, amid his pre-election campaign blitz across multiple states this week.
Most people don’t want to see a politician over this … three weeks, you know, from about the 20th probably to about the 10th or 15th of January. So to be out there and campaigning now, I just I don’t know whether that will just annoy the people more or what …
Going out this early straight after Christmas, this would have to be a first, I reckon. This is phenomenal. So anybody would have to say that he’s going to call an election in late February or early March, surely.
You never see anybody running around campaigns during the Christmas period. This is really bizarre, so I’m not sure how that is going to go down with Australians. But quite frankly, the worst time to do it is the three weeks over the Christmas period. They just don’t like it very much.
Continue reading...Front dragging warm air from the Pilbara brings ‘particularly hot’ weather to SA, NSW, Victoria and Tasmania
Winds from the Southern Ocean will bring relief on Monday to parts of south-eastern Australia sweltering through a three-day heatwave.
A heatwave warning for South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania was issued by the Bureau of Meteorology for the weekend as temperatures were expected to spike in some parts to 40C.
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Continue reading...Particles recorded by scientists at the Chilean research station, the Profesor Julio Escudero Base, as recently as Sunday
Smoke from bushfires in south-eastern Australia has been detected over Antarctica for the first time since the 2019-20 black summer fires.
Scientists detected the smoke particles at the Profesor Julio Escudero Base, a Chilean research station on King George Island, at the northern tip of the Antarctic peninsula.
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Continue reading...BoM says light winds are expected to temper the fire danger despite high temperatures, especially inland
Scorching temperatures and elevated fire dangers are forecast for the coming week as Australia rings in the new year – but light winds could protect towns from blazes becoming too severe.
Perth was the first hit by the heatwave, with a high of 34C recorded on Sunday, and maximums above 32C forecast for every day until Friday.
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Continue reading...Prime minister announces disaster recovery payments for survivors as premier gives ‘heartfelt’ thanks to firefighters
At least three homes and nearly a dozen outbuildings have been destroyed by the fire in Victoria’s Grampians, as a new fire threatens homes and lives in Western Australia.
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, said on Sunday morning that assessments of the damage were still continuing, and the full impact of the blaze was not yet clear. She thanked those in the path of the fire for listening to warnings and taking action to stay safe.
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Continue reading...Victorian temperatures to rise from Monday, with fire warnings also in place in NSW and Western Australia
Milder conditions across the weekend will bring temporary relief to firefighters who continue to battle an out-of-control bushfire in Victoria’s Grampians.
But the forecast rain was not expected to extinguish the fires and hot weather was expected to ramp up again from Monday.
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Continue reading...Fires burning in Grampians national park, Bullengarook, Creswick and at the Gurdies after residents of Bornes Hill, Moyston and Pomonal ordered to leave. Follow the latest updates live
Authorities in Victoria have issued an emergency warning for a bushfire at Mafeking in the state’s west.
Locals have been told to take shelter immediately.
Continue reading...Authorities warn it is too late to leave some areas after bushfire in the Shire of Dandaragan cuts evacuation routes
Firefighters have gained the upper hand in the battle against a fierce blaze threatening coastal communities in Western Australia but authorities warn challenging weather conditions will test their defences.
The bushfire in the Shire of Dandaragan, about 170km north of Perth, has cut evacuation routes and razed more than 70,000 hectares of scrub since it was started by a fatal car crash on Monday.
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Continue reading...Heritage minister says Facebook made ‘room for misinformation’ after turning news off in 2023 as Australia mulls actions that could lead to Meta doing the same
Twelve months on from Canada’s worst-ever wildfire season unfolding during a news blackout on Facebook, the nation has warned Australia about Meta’s “reckless” behaviour during “need-to-know situations”.
An early start to Australia’s bushfire season is looming for swaths of the country, with large parts of Queensland and the Northern Territory, the south-west of Victoria and south-east corner of South Australia facing higher risk, according to an official assessment in September.
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Continue reading...Firefighters battle two out-of-control blazes as other communities brace for winds, storms and possible flash flooding
Two out-of-control bushfires in Victoria have forced townships to evacuate and destroyed at least one home as parts of Australia’s east remain on alert for fires while being hit with wild winds and storms.
Firefighters were on Sunday working to contain the fires in Victoria’s west, with flash flooding and heavy rainfall possible in the state’s north-east, south-east New South Wales and north-east Tasmania.
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Continue reading...Weather warnings across multiple states on Wednesday as Dirranbandi residents told to evacuate
A heat warning is in place for large parts of Queensland on Wednesday with temperatures hitting 40C in parts of the state.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued a heatwave warning for much of the state, forecasting severe conditions around north-west and inland areas.
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