Scorching Temperatures in Australia lead to Extreme Bush Fires

The extreme heat and scorching temperatures in Australia that officials have been warning about came to pass on Saturday, with some fire-stricken areas seeing temperatures around 100 Fahrenheit (38 Celsius), according to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology. The agency warned that the danger of more fires along the southeast coast was comparable to New Year’s Eve, when some of the worst recent devastation occurred.

The hottest place in the country on Saturday was the western Sydney suburb of Penrith, which recorded a high of about 118 degrees.

Fire season in Australia is always dangerous — the 2009 Black Saturday fires killed 173 people in Victoria, making it the deadliest bushfire disaster on record. But conditions have been unusually severe this year, fanning the flames and making firefighting conditions particularly difficult.

Officials said one major fire had crossed from the state of Victoria north into New South Wales and was spreading quickly. Fire-generated thunderstorms — whose winds can make fire conditions even worse — have appeared over blazes in two different places, the New South Wales fire service said. Emergency workers were using cranes and air tankers to fight the fires, as winds moving up the coast were causing some of the blazes to merge.

About 87 percent of Australia’s wildlife is endemic to the country, which means it can only be found on this island continent, and a great many of those species have populations living in the regions now being obliterated by the fires.
A total of 24 people have died nationwide, and in the state of New South Wales alone, more than 1,300 houses have been destroyed. State and federal authorities are struggling to contain the massive blazes, even with firefighting assistance from other countries, including the United States.

Flying Squad Disbanded, Sting Squad to hold forth.

All this has been exacerbated by persistent heat and drought, and many point to climate change as a factor making natural disasters go from bad to worse.

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