DESKTOP 2430 - OUTBACK BUSHFIRE

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

DESKTOP 2358 - SUMMER

At the Darebin Parklands in suburban Melbourne, showing the effects of the dry weather we have been experiencing. The atmosphere is hazy with the bushfire smoke.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the My Corner of the World.

DESKTOP 2346 - BUSHFIRE SUNSET

Bushfires (=wildfires, or forest fires) in Australia are frequently occurring events during the hotter months of the year due to Australia's mostly hot, dry climate. Large areas of land are ravaged every year by bushfires, which also cause property damage and loss of life. 

Major firestorms that result in severe loss of life are often named based on the day on which they occur, such as Ash Wednesday and Black Saturday. Some of the most intense, extensive and deadly bushfires commonly occur during droughts and heat waves, such as the 2009 Southern Australia heat wave, which precipitated the conditions during the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in which 173 people lost their lives.

We are currently experiencing a severe bushfire season, which has started early and is still burning in New South Wales and Eastern Victoria. A drought has plagued eastern Australia since early 2017, and rainfall in November was the lowest ever on record, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. Death toll is now at 17 (including three firefighters), with nearly 500 homes lost over the New Year period.

About 7 million acres (three million hectares) have burned in New South Wales since July, according to the area's Rural Fire Service, the BBC reported. And about 12.35 million acres (five million hectares) of land have burned across the country, according to The Associated Press. To put that in perspective, about 4 million acres (1.8 million hectares) burned in California's 2018 wildfires, and about 2 million acres (900,000 hectares) burned during Brazil's 2019 Amazon fires.More than 1,400 homes have been destroyed, according to The Associated Press.

In Melbourne, we are experiencing very bad air quality, a choking smell of smoke and widespread hazy conditions as the smoke from the East Gippsland fires drifts across hundreds of kilometres to reach the City. It makes for red sunsets, which serve as reminder of the devastation these bushfires are causing throughout our country...

You can help the thousands of victims who have lost loved ones, property and the roofs over their heads, here.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

DESKTOP 2041 - ANTECEDENT

Four bushfires in Victoria’s east have joined into a raging blaze, putting lives and homes at risk as winds fuel the out-of-control fire. The fires merged at Bunyip state park near Tonimbuk, about 65km east of Melbourne, causing a blaze of about 3,400 hectares in size, last Saturday. An emergency warning was issued, with residents told it was too late to leave.

Tonimbuk, which borders Bunyip State Park, was in the direct path of a massive fire that swept through over the weekend. A map of the area from the Country Fire Authority shows a large section of black over the township, which is believed to have been all destroyed. At the last census, Tonimbuk was home to 208 people. Winemaker Andrew Clarke is among them. As bushfires ripped through the region, he could do nothing but stare at a screen in horror and disbelief at what he was watching on live TV: His winery and vineyard exploding in flames...

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Macro Monday meme,
and also part of the Through my Lens meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

DESKTOP 1907 - BUSHFIRE

Bushfire in Victoria in 2009. The flames of a wild fire such as this always strike terror in the hearts of all those people nearby. Such fires can have devastating effects with great losses of property, livestock, forests, wildlife and of course human lives... However, the Australian landscape and climate has adapted to and depends on bushfires to regenerate. See here.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme, 

and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme,

and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.

DEASKTOP 1761 - SUMMER BUSHFIRE

In the heat of Summer, when the temperatures in the outback hit the red, and when even during the night the warmth in the air will not abate, it's then the danger of bushfires is very high. Bushfires in Australia are a very common occurrence and especially so during the hot/dry months. Large tracts of bush will burn, often with dire consequences in terms of lost flora and fauna, and sometimes even loss of life and property for the bush dwellers.

One consolation is that the Australian flora has adapted and most plants and trees will regenerate after a bushfire. In fact, some native species of plants produce seeds that will only germinate after they have experienced the intense heat of a bushfire.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,
and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme,

and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.