2019 was the hottest — and driest — year on record for Australia, authorities have said. Residents in southeastern Australia have been urged to flee bushfires as firefighters prepare for unfavorable weather conditions.
Image: Reuters/AAP Image/D. Mariuz
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Exhausted residents and firefighters are readying for fresh fire-fueling winds and hardly any rain along Australia's southeast continental rim, spanning the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
The forecast comes as the federal Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) revealed on Thursday that 2019 was the warmest and driest year since consistent recording began a century ago.
Bushfire smoke has altered Sydney's iconic skyline
Fire season 'getting more severe'
During 2019, Australia's annual mean temperature had been 1.52 °C (2.74 °F) above average and its "nationally averaged" rainfall was 278 mm (11 inches), 40% below the long-term average, said BoM, adding that its annual fire season was "getting longer" and "more severe."
"We are not looking at a short sharp end to the event — it looks like something that we will have to persist with for some time," said Karl Braganza, BoM's head of climate monitoring, while ruling out sizeable rainfalls.
BoM's report traces the turn to the so-called Indian Ocean Dipole and rare stratospheric warming over the South Pole that had pushed "our weather systems northward."
'Dangerous' conditions ahead
Victoria state's Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp warned that a new weather front, forecast by BoM as likely to pack winds up to 80 kph (50 mph), would make Friday a "dangerous and dynamic day."
"If you can get out, you should get out," Crisp urged residents across rural areas, where already bushfires have left thousands homeless since Christmas.
Victoria was "just at the beginning of what will be a really, really challenging summer," stressed premier Daniel Andrews, referring to southern hemispheric seasons.
At Mallacoota, where over the New Year hundreds escaped by naval evacuation, Mark Tregellas,a stay-put local, told Reuters by telephone that electrical supply was only "slowly" being reestablished.
"Everyone is reliant on generators, and fuel for those is very limited, he said, adding: "People have now run out of petrol so most in town are now riding on bicycles."
'Shoulder-to-shoulder,' says NSW's Berejiklian
In New South Wales state (NSW, with Sydney its capital) emergency officials warned of an "extreme fire danger" expected in its mountain areas on Friday
Already, 1870 homes have been destroyed across NSW since the disaster's onset in September.
NSW's state government on Thursday announced an additional $A 1.2 billion ($US 680 million, €740 million) to rebuild infrastructure and communities.
"We are standing shoulder-to-shoulder with those who have been impacted by the devastating fires," said NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian.
Critics say the government isn't doing enough to curb bushfires and climate changeImage: AFP/S. Khan
PM Morrison gets backlash — again
Federal Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who has pledged A$2 billion (US$1.37 million) for a new National Bushfire Recovery Agency, was on Thursday again on the rhetorical defensive.
Visiting South Australia state's scorched Kangaroo Island, Morrison exclaimed: "Thankfully, we've had no loss of life." The statement appeared to overlook last Friday's deaths of a veteran safari guide and his son (a 43-year-old surgeon) as they battled blazes on the island.
"Yes, two, that's quite right. I was thinking about firefighters really," said Morrison, before expressing his "sincere condolences" for the 27 lives lost during the ongoing disaster.
Long an advocate of Australia's coal exports, Morrison has faced critics who point to the sector as a climate change driver and his seeming detachment from massive wildlife and livestock deaths.
University of Sydney ecologists estimate that one billion mammals, birds and reptiles have perished — excluding a presumed toll among frogs, insects and invertebrates as well.
Pope: 'Powerful fires'
In Rome, Catholicism's Pope Francis urged congregants to pray for Australians in "these powerful fires" in a disaster seen by many as a harbinger for other countries facing climate disruption.
"I'm close to the Australian people," said Francis.
Bushfires ravage Australia
Australia is grappling with its worst bushfire season to date. The nation has been forced to reckon with a rising death toll, mass evacuations and suffering animal populations.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Davey
Widespread devastation
Massive bushfires have devastated Australia as the blazes continue to rage across the country. Since the start of one of the worst fire seasons on record, more than 2,500 homes have been burned, tens of thousands of people evacuated, and at least 29 killed. Here, a photographer reacts to seeing the burnt-out remains of a relative's home in Quaama, New South Wales.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Davey
Area the size of South Korea razed
As of January 17, fires have burnt roughly 10 million hectares (25 million acres) of land, an area larger than South Korea or Portugal. More than 170 fires continue to burn in Victoria state and New South Wales. There were 82 fires burning across New South Wales, 30 uncontained, and several fires in Victoria, according to fire authorities.
Image: Imago/B. Xuefei
Battling the blazes
Firefighters protect homes around Charmhaven, New South Wales, on December 30. Wildfires burning across four Australian states that day destroyed hundreds of properties and caused multiple fatalities. A volunteer firefighter was killed and three others were injured after strong winds pushed a fire truck over.
Image: picture-allianceAP/Twitter@NSWRFS
Red skies
A person stands in protective gear as nearby bushfires turn the sky red in Mallacoota, Victoria. Thousands of people in the coastal region were told to evacuate over the New Year period, while the Country Fire Authority later issued an ominous warning to residents still in the area that it was "too late to leave." Some 4,000 people spent New Year's Eve on the beach to avoid the flames.
An air tanker drops fire retardant over the Gospers Mountain fire near Colo Heights, northwest of Sydney, Australia on November 15, 2019. The Gospers Mountain fire originated in the Wollemi National Park, and came close to merging with other major fires in the area. Fires have torn apart the Blue Mountains, a popular tourist area, burning more than 500,000 hectares of land.
Image: Reuters/AAP/D. Lewins
Quick escape
A burnt bicycle lies on the ground in front of a house destroyed by bushfires on the outskirts of the town of Bargo, near Sydney, on December 21, 2019. The town was hit with a catastrophic fire danger warning as fires turned several nearby homes to ashes. The New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian declared a state of emergency that same week.
Image: Getty Images/D. Gay
Toddler receives posthumous medal for firefighter father
Firefighters are among the 28 people who have lost their lives in the fires. Some were volunteers. Thirty-two-year-old Geoffrey Keaton, along with a colleague, died when a burnt tree fell in the path of their fire truck. Keaton's nineteen-month-old son Harvey was awarded one of the service's highest honors on behalf of his father on January 2.
Image: Reuters/NSW RURAL FIRE SERVICE
Animals caught in the flames
A kangaroo that survived the bushfire in Wollemi National Park in Sydney grazes for food in November 2019. The fires have not only sparked concern over human well-being, but have also created worries over the survival of endangered and vulnerable animals. The fires have killed more than a billion animals across eastern and southern Australia.
Image: Imago Images/AAP/J. Piper
Economic toll
The Insurance Council of Australia said on January 7 that the bushfires have caused at least US$485 million (€435 million) in damage and that number was likely to rise. Separately, authorities warned of looters in towns where people have evacuated and scammers taking advantage of fundraisers for relief efforts.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/S. Khan
Koala species threatened by fires
The bushfires have devastated Australia's koala population. In New South Wales state alone, officials estimate 30% of koala habitat - eucalpyt woodlands, which they use for both food and shelter - may have been lost. At least 45 koalas were being treated for burns at the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital.
Image: Reuters/AAP Image/D. Mariuz
Australians take to the streets
Thousands of people took to the streets on January 10 in Australia's major cities to rally against Prime Minister Scott Morrison's inaction on climate change and his handling of the ongoing bushfire crises. The nationwide rallies were organized by university students in Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart.
Image: picture alliance/ZUMAPRESS
Smoke across oceans
Smoke from Australia drifted across the Pacific and reached South America, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on January 7. On January 2, the EU Copernicus program recorded the highest concentrations of atmospheric carbon monoxide in the world over the "clean" South Pacific Ocean stemming from the fires in Australia.
Image: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
