Posts Tagged ‘heat’

Make it stop. Please God, make it stop.

Posted: March 12, 2013 in Political musings, Popular Culture et al
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The new normal. God help us.

Angry summer indeed ...

Angry summer indeed …

This has been going on all summer. We smashed heat records in January. And then in February. This is March: South-eastern Australia has been sweltering for well over a week, with the strongest pulse of heat just before the end. This is from Rob Sharpe at the Weather Bureau, about 15 minutes ago. (It’s now 6.30 pm approx AEST on 12/3/13)

South Australia

The heat pushed into South Australia almost two weeks ago beginning an eleven day run of over 30 degree temperatures. This is the third longest run of March heat in over 120 years of records.

Mt Gambier smashed the March record for consecutive days above 30 degrees with eleven. This is five more than the record and is also equal to the summer record set in 1956.

Victoria

Melbourne has broken multiple records in this run of heat despite having records dating back 156 years. It has had the longest ever run of days above 30 and 32 degrees with nine days reaching 32.7 and above. The previous records were eight days above 30 and seven above 32, set in the same run in February 1961.

Nights have also been very warm in Melbourne meaning that buildings without air conditioning have struggled to cool from the daytime heat. The city has equaled the record of six mornings in a row failing to drop below 20 degrees. Tonight is likely to break the record with the mercury likely to be in the low 30’s or high 20’s most of the night. There is a chance that tonight will break the record for the warmest March minimum of 26.3 degrees.

All of Victoria has been bombarded by this heat with temperatures rising as high as 40 degrees at Cape Nelson. This is 19 degrees above the March average and half a degree short of the March record.

Tasmania

Records have been equaled and they have been doubled in Australia’s southern most state.

Launceston has been staggering in its consistently hot temperatures. It has doubled its record run of four days above 30 degrees with a staggering eight days, including a new record March temperature of 33 degrees.

Hobart came very close to its longstanding March record of 37.3 degrees today, reaching a top of 36.7 degrees. Just inland of Hobart, Bushy Park succeeded in equaling its 47 year old March record of 37.6 degrees. Strathgorden and Strathan had their hottest March day in at least 30 years.

Meanwhile, the northern hemisphere shivers, ironically, in appalling cold and snow, which is, of course, equally due to the chaotic disruption of the planet’s man-made warming.

What will it take before people realise we need to take meaningful action now? Yes, it’s going to hurt. It’s going to affect our lifestyles. It’s going to mean business will have to “box smarter”. And no, it’s not all bad news – climate change will produce winners as well as losers. But the scale of change is going to be massive, even if the effect is at the lowest end of what is predicted.

But we can do it – think of the great efforts made by humanity in times of peril before. We can stop it getting worse than it has to be, and we can ameliorate the effects. Just can we please stop arguing and get started?

This is unbearable.

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Incredible story of bush fire survival

Posted: January 9, 2013 in Popular Culture et al
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I wrote yesterday of the horror of widespread bushfires at this time of the year in Australia.

Today comes the welcome news that no-one has died in the Tasmanian fires, although there has been considerable property damage, but one family’s story has “gone viral” around the world. It will certainly touch the heart of anyone who has experienced a wildfire.

The family shelter under the sea jetty – this powerful image has captured the imagination of the world.

Tim Holmes yesterday told how his wife Tammy and their five grandchildren huddled in water under a jetty for two and a half hours to avoid the fire which destroyed the couple’s home in Dunalley, Tasmania.

Mr Holmes and his wife were looking after grandchildren Matilda, 11, Liam, 9, Caleb, 6, Esther, 4, and Charlotte, 1, while their mum Bonnie and dad David were out.

Mr Holmes thought he had prepared his property for Friday’s bushfire, but when he saw smoke rise from a nearby ridge, he sent Tammy and the grandchildren to the nearby sea jetty.

Despite the arrival of three fire trucks, the 62-year-old could not defend the home he built himself.

“I looked at the firefighters and said, ‘I have to go to Tammy and the kids’.” Mr Holmes ran downhill and found Tammy and the five grandchildren huddled in the water, with their pet dog Polly on the jetty.

“For the next 2½ hours we huddled under the jetty as the fire intensified and produced a plume of smoke, ash and debris that left us with very little oxygen,” he said.

“There were times when we had to move out deeper because it was too hot, and there were times when the jetty itself caught fire.

“I was able to scoop some water onto the jetty and put it out.”

They eventually made their way to safety as the fire burnt itself out.

“It’s all gone, every last item, but it’s a great sense of relief to think that we lost not one hair on a child’s head,” Mr Holmes said.

I don’t doubt that these brave kids’ parents will be forever thankful for the wisdom and alertness of Grandad and Grandma. I have been at the coast in Australia when a nearby bushfire started raining ash on us. (At Metung, on the Gippsland Lakes, in Victoria.) Over our heads the smoke loomed ominously, and the unmistakeable eucalypt-and-grass tinged smell of the fire pervaded everything, but thankfully the fire was far enough away that we were not directly threatened. It was, nevertheless, a deeply disturbing experience.

As I write, NSW is still burning, despite a cool south-westerly change helping the situation. It appears no one has died there either, which is a blessing.

Next week will also, apparently, be a very bad one for fire danger throughout the country. We have family working at Uluru, where they are looking forward to temperatures in the shade in excess of 50 degrees Celcius, or a balmy 122 degrees Fahrenheit.

So all of you sitting staring at rain or snow in northern climes – count your blessings.

(Yahoo and others)