{"id":2803,"date":"2019-12-30T17:28:09","date_gmt":"2019-12-30T21:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=2803"},"modified":"2019-12-30T17:28:09","modified_gmt":"2019-12-30T21:28:09","slug":"unprecedented-major-wildfires-burning-near-major-city-in-australia-and-all-are-getting-worse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=2803","title":{"rendered":"UNPRECEDENTED: Major Wildfires Burning Near Major City in Australia and All Are Getting Worse"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Bushfires Are Raging Outside Every Major City in Australia. They&#8217;re Only Going to Get Worse<\/h1>\n<p><!--more--><br \/>\n<iframe src=\"\/\/players.brightcove.net\/293884104\/gh5LeNtQaQ_default\/index.html?videoId=6117214020001\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nBY AMY GUNIA<br \/>\nThe Week<\/p>\n<p>Hundreds of bushfires are raging across Australia, with hotspots in every state.<\/p>\n<p>And a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/myfirewatch.landgate.wa.gov.au\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fire tracker map<\/a>\u00a0maintained by researchers in Western Australia, shows that they are also threatening areas around every major city in the country.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday night, an emergency warning was in place for a fire near\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/emergency.vic.gov.au\/respond\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mount Mercer<\/a>\u00a0outside Melbourne and authorities warned residents of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/QldFireandEmergencyServices\/posts\/2691529544260922?__tn__=-R\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cainbable,<\/a>\u00a0about 60 miles south of Brisbane, to take precautions against a bushfire burning there.<\/p>\n<p>And it\u2019s only going to get worse in the coming days as hot, windy conditions are expected in parts of the country on Saturday, according to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BOM_au\/status\/1207872650128683009\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bureau of Meteorology.<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"component inline image margin-32-tb align-img align-center\">\n<div class=\"image-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"component lazy-image no-upscale rendered image-loaded\" data-high-density=\"true\" data-src=\"https:\/\/api.time.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/australia-fire-hotspots.png\" data-crop=\"\" data-alt=\"A map from researchers in Western Australia shows hundreds of bushfire hotspots across the nation as of Friday, Dec. 20, 2019.\" data-title=\"A map from researchers in Western Australia shows hundreds of bushfire hotspots across the nation as of Friday, Dec. 20, 2019.\" data-shop-image=\"false\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"397\">\n<div class=\"inner-container js-inner-container \">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"A map from researchers in Western Australia shows hundreds of bushfire hotspots across the nation as of Friday, Dec. 20, 2019.\" src=\"https:\/\/api.time.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/australia-fire-hotspots.png?w=800&amp;quality=85\" alt=\"A map from researchers in Western Australia shows hundreds of bushfire hotspots across the nation as of Friday, Dec. 20, 2019.\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-wrap-container clearfix\">\n<div class=\"credit body-caption padding-8-top\">A map from researchers in Western Australia shows hundreds of bushfire hotspots across the nation as of Friday, Dec. 20, 2019.<\/div>\n<div class=\"credit body-credit padding-8-top padding-8-bottom\">My Fire Watch<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cWhen you have very hot, dry, windy conditions, if all of those things come together, a fire can get quickly out of control,\u201d Lesley Hughes, with the environmental group Climate Council of Australia, tells TIME.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ad-728x90_LL_td_1\" class=\"ad ad-container ad-wrapper type-728x90 instream-ad tablet-ad desktop-ad x2 tgx-processed\" role=\"complementary\" data-tgxtargeting=\"%7B%7D\" data-tgxlazy=\"200\" data-dimensions=\"728x90\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-tgxposition=\"2\"><\/div>\n<p>\u201cAs the climate is warming up, we\u2019re getting more and more extreme hot days and currently, of course, Australia is in the grip of probably unprecedented heatwave conditions almost right across the continent.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"component feed inline-recirc double\" data-partial=\"tile\" data-variation=\"inline-recirc double\" data-type=\"feed\" data-title=\"Related Stories\">\n<h2 class=\"subtitle feed-subtitle\">RELATED STORIES<\/h2>\n<article class=\"partial tile media image-top type-\" data-crop=\"marquee_large_2x\" data-headline-style=\"heading-content\">\n<div class=\"component lazy-image marquee_large_2x rendered image-loaded\" data-high-density=\"true\" data-src=\"https:\/\/api.time.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/pge-ceo.jpg?quality=85&amp;w=600\" data-crop=\"marquee_large_2x\" data-alt=\"\" data-title=\"\" data-shop-image=\"false\">\n<div class=\"inner-container js-inner-container \"><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/api.time.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/pge-ceo.jpg?w=600&amp;h=93&amp;quality=85\" alt=\"\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"media-body article-info bucket-margin margin-24-bottom clearfix\">\n<div class=\"category heading-eyebrow\">U.S.<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"headline heading-3 heading-content margin-8-bottom media-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/5717148\/pge-ceo-california-wildfires\/\">PG&amp;E CEO&#8217;s California Wildfire Comments Spark Outrage<\/a><\/h3>\n<div class=\"article-info-extended\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article class=\"partial tile media image-top type-\" data-crop=\"marquee_large_2x\" data-headline-style=\"heading-content\">\n<div class=\"component lazy-image marquee_large_2x rendered image-loaded\" data-high-density=\"true\" data-src=\"https:\/\/api.time.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/kincade-fire-noaa.jpg?quality=85&amp;w=600\" data-crop=\"marquee_large_2x\" data-alt=\"\" data-title=\"\" data-shop-image=\"false\">\n<div class=\"inner-container js-inner-container \"><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/api.time.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/kincade-fire-noaa.jpg?w=600&amp;h=93&amp;quality=85\" alt=\"\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"media-body article-info bucket-margin margin-24-bottom clearfix\">\n<div class=\"category heading-eyebrow\">SCIENCE<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"headline heading-3 heading-content margin-8-bottom media-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/5712576\/california-kincade-wildfire-space\/\">What California&#8217;s Kincade Wildfire Looks Like From Space<\/a><\/h3>\n<div class=\"article-info-extended\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<p>Despite the bushfire crisis, Australia\u2019s Prime Minister Scott Morrison has argued that there is no direct link between Australia\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions and the severity of the fires burning across the country. However, he acknowledged that climate change could be impacting bushfires. Australia is one of the highest per capita emitters of carbon dioxide in the world, according to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net\/auscon\/pages\/16166\/attachments\/original\/1562469729\/FINAL_Carbon_footprint_report_Formatted.pdf?1562469729\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Climate Analytics<\/a>, an advocacy group that tracks climate data.<\/p>\n<p>The Prime Minister\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/5753383\/australian-prime-minister-vacation-bushfires\/\">cut short his family holiday<\/a>\u00a0on Friday and apologized after two firefighters were killed battling bushfires in New South Wales.<\/p>\n<p>Peter Dunn, a former commissioner for the Australian Capital Territory Emergency Services Authority and a member of advocacy group Emergency Leaders for Climate Action tells TIME that people are preparing for the worst.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone is very nervous about it,\u201d he says. Dunn is taking personal precautions to try to ensure the safety of his home, which is on the south coast in New South Wales. \u201cI was just outside moving away some old embers and burnt leaves off the front of our property,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got fires on all sides of us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In New South Wales, where Sydney is located, firefighters are battling more than\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NSWRFS\/status\/1207813895383113728\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">100 fires<\/a>, according to the state\u2019s Rural Fire Service. State authorities declared a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/5752838\/australia-new-south-wales-wildfires\/\">state of emergency<\/a>\u00a0on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>A\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bom.gov.au\/nsw\/warnings\/fire.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Catastrophic Fire Danger<\/a>\u00a0alert has been issued for Saturday for many parts of New South Wales in eastern Australia, including the Sydney area. Several other areas are under \u201cextreme\u201d fire danger alerts.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Important update to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Fire?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Fire<\/a> Danger Ratings for tmrw (Sat). Greater <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Sydney?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Sydney<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Illawarra?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Illawarra<\/a>\/Shoalhaven &amp; Southern Ranges now all upgraded to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Catastrophic?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Catastrophic<\/a>. Areas including <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ACT?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ACT<\/a> &amp; Greater <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Hunter?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Hunter<\/a> now rated as <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Extreme?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Extreme<\/a>. Conditions are potentially dangerous <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/sFQFEWU22s\">https:\/\/t.co\/sFQFEWU22s<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/MQ4pNZOAEH\">pic.twitter.com\/MQ4pNZOAEH<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BOM_NSW\/status\/1207903020769517568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 20, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>People in Sydney posted photos this week of haze enveloping the city.<\/p>\n<div class=\"component embed-twitter js-embed-twitter social-embed\" data-embed-type=\"twitter\" data-embed-id=\"1207903020769517568\">\n<div class=\"SandboxRoot env-bp-350\" data-twitter-event-id=\"0\">\n<div id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"EmbeddedTweet EmbeddedTweet--cta js-clickToOpenTarget\" lang=\"en\" data-click-to-open-target=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BOM_NSW\/status\/1207903020769517568\" data-iframe-title=\"Twitter Tweet\" data-scribe=\"page:tweet\" data-twitter-event-id=\"3\">\n<div class=\"EmbeddedTweet-tweetContainer\">\n<div class=\"EmbeddedTweet-tweet\">\n<blockquote class=\"Tweet h-entry js-tweetIdInfo subject expanded\" cite=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BOM_NSW\/status\/1207903020769517568\" data-tweet-id=\"1207903020769517568\" data-scribe=\"section:subject\">\n<div class=\"Tweet-header\"><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Sydney, Australia Bushfire haze.  1.30pm <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/clh3IqB9U7\">pic.twitter.com\/clh3IqB9U7<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Dolphin friendly (@TaraSMITHSON1) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TaraSMITHSON1\/status\/1207490183639097345?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 19, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Bushfires burned in all directions outside of Sydney, including a fire near the Blue Mountains which has already\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rfs.nsw.gov.au\/fire-information\/major-fire-updates\/mfu?id=4895\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">destroyed<\/a>\u00a0an area larger than the state of Rhode Island.<\/p>\n<div class=\"component inline image margin-32-tb align-img align-center\">\n<div class=\"image-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"component lazy-image no-upscale rendered image-loaded\" data-high-density=\"true\" data-src=\"https:\/\/api.time.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/sydney-fire-map.png\" data-crop=\"\" data-alt=\"Bushfires burn outside Sydney\" data-title=\"Bushfires burn outside Sydney\" data-shop-image=\"false\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"311\">\n<div class=\"inner-container js-inner-container \">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Bushfires burn outside Sydney\" src=\"https:\/\/api.time.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/sydney-fire-map.png?w=800&amp;quality=85\" alt=\"Bushfires burn outside Sydney\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-wrap-container clearfix\">\n<div class=\"credit body-caption padding-8-top\">Bushfires burn outside Sydney<\/div>\n<div class=\"credit body-credit padding-8-top padding-8-bottom\">My Fire Watch<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Seven major bushfires were also burning across Southern Australia on Friday, including a massive fire which started in Cudlee Creek, a small town near Adelaide, reports\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.adelaidenow.com.au\/news\/south-australia\/bushfire-burning-at-cudlee-creek-as-catastrophic-conditions-forecast-for-six-sa-regions\/live-coverage\/5ec8ae7deb78a8261581164bb86a71b1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the Adelaide\u00a0<em>Advertiser<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"component inline image margin-32-tb align-img align-center\">\n<div class=\"image-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"component lazy-image no-upscale rendered image-loaded\" data-high-density=\"true\" data-src=\"https:\/\/api.time.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Adelaide-fire-map.png\" data-crop=\"\" data-alt=\"Bushfires burn outside Adelaide, Australia\" data-title=\"Bushfires burn outside Adelaide, Australia\" data-shop-image=\"false\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"311\">\n<div class=\"inner-container js-inner-container \">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Bushfires burn outside Adelaide, Australia\" src=\"https:\/\/api.time.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Adelaide-fire-map.png?w=800&amp;quality=85\" alt=\"Bushfires burn outside Adelaide, Australia\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-wrap-container clearfix\">\n<div class=\"credit body-caption padding-8-top\">Bushfires burn outside Adelaide, Australia<\/div>\n<div class=\"credit body-credit padding-8-top padding-8-bottom\">My Fire Watch<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The South Australian Country Fire Services warned those in the area near Cudlee Creek to take shelter.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Bushfire?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Bushfire<\/a> Emergency Warning for <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/HOLLANDS_CREEK_ROAD?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#HOLLANDS_CREEK_ROAD<\/a>,_CUDLEE_CREEK <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/fire?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#fire<\/a>. You are now in danger. Take shelter in a solid building. Do not leave or enter this area in a vehicle or on foot. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/EWM?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#EWM<\/a> ID=0003632 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SAFires?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#SAFires<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/TYDROVL5bJ\">https:\/\/t.co\/TYDROVL5bJ<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/E61FKag8U9\">pic.twitter.com\/E61FKag8U9<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Country Fire Service (@CFSAlerts) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CFSAlerts\/status\/1207928613401706496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 20, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Several fires burned around Melbourne, Australia\u2019s second largest city.<\/p>\n<div class=\"component inline image margin-32-tb align-img align-center\">\n<div class=\"image-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"component lazy-image no-upscale rendered image-loaded\" data-high-density=\"true\" data-src=\"https:\/\/api.time.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Melbourne-Fires.png\" data-crop=\"\" data-alt=\"Bushfires burn around Melbourne, Australia\" data-title=\"Bushfires burn around Melbourne, Australia\" data-shop-image=\"false\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"311\">\n<div class=\"inner-container js-inner-container \">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Bushfires burn around Melbourne, Australia\" src=\"https:\/\/api.time.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Melbourne-Fires.png?w=800&amp;quality=85\" alt=\"Bushfires burn around Melbourne, Australia\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cCertainly this summer, these conditions, the ongoing drought, the heatwave and the fires, are really bringing home to people that climate change is not some future hypothetical issue,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>Dunn agrees that the bushfire crisis has \u201cfundamentally shifted\u201d the climate debate in Australia. He and other climate change activists believe Morrison\u2019s position on the country\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions is hindering the government\u2019s ability to tackle the bushfire criss.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy not accepting the link between climate change and bushfires as fully as [the government] should, we\u2019re not getting sufficiently prepared to cope with the problem,\u201d Hughes says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s really, really frustrating, the ongoing intransigence of this federal Conservative government.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s not the only Australian upset over government inaction. Protests broke out at Morrison\u2019s office on Thursday, with demonstrators demanding action on climate change, while others criticized Morrison for taking a vacation to Hawaii during the fire crisis.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve had no leadership from the government whatsoever. They\u2019ve been missing in action,\u201d Dunn says.<\/p>\n<p>___<br \/>\nhttps:\/\/time.com\/5753584\/bushfires-australia-catastrophic-fire-alert\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bushfires Are Raging Outside Every Major City in Australia. They&#8217;re Only Going to Get Worse<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2803\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}