Friday, January 3, 2020

ecology disaster in Australia

Thursday, January 2, 2020

For those outside Australiaby Channel 9

Since bushfire season began in August 2019 in Australia, nearly 6 million hectares of land has been destroyed.
Blazes sparked by hot, dry weather and assisted by strong winds have torn through nearly every state in the country.
The death toll is at 19 people and dozens are still missing.
The Australian bushfires have burned through nearly 6 million hectares of land.
The Australian bushfires have burned through nearly 6 million hectares of land. (9News)
Thousands of homes and buildings have been lost, cars gutted, and farms and livelihoods destroyed.
Collectively, an estimated area of 5.9 million hectares - which takes in bushland, national parks, as well as towns and cities - has been ravaged by the fires.

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This figure includes the fires currently burning, plus the regions already burned.
If the total area of land destroyed is added together, the size of the affected area is larger than the whole of Belgium.
The damage zone dwarfs Singapore in a comparison.
The damage zone dwarfs Singapore in a comparison. (9News)
When compared to London, the total area hit by the bushfires covers from Birmingham in the north-west all the way to Hastings on the south-east coast.
The damage zone dwarfs Singapore in a comparison.
One single fire, the Gospers Mountain mega-blaze which hit NSW, was approximately seven times the size of Singapore.
The size of the affected area over Belgium.
The size of the affected area over Belgium. (9News)
In New South Wales alone, more than 4 million hectares of land is on fire or has been burnt. This is more than four times the size of the fires which ripped through Brazil's Amazon rainforest last year.
It is estimated 500 million animals have died in the fires. This includes many species native to Australia such as koalas and kangaroos, and there are fears entire species have been wiped out.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from cities and towns in New South Wales and Victoria ahead of worsening conditions this weekend.
Australia is just one month in to summer.
The season ahead is expected to bring more devastation.

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Temperature

27c outside
51c in roof cavity
vegetation temp is 23c
ground temperature is 44c
sky smoke is -5c

temps

ground 19 air is 14 atmosphere is -11.5

Watch the ground temps

When the temps are high like the other day that is 63 degrees then expect troubles.
 The trees are already at 48 degrees and are half way to burning, leaves are falling adding to the fuel load....
Temperatures in a roof cavity are probably over 150 degrees this is why buildings burnt with in minutes.

Air brakes on fire trucks

Some years ago working with the late Alex Revel we examined why trucks stopped in fire situations.
It turned out the air brake hoses melted and burnt threw instantly locking the brakes on.
The solution was to protect the hoses with insulation and armoured with stainless steel outer coat.
These were tested  and were able to withstand 1000 degrees for ten minutes and that was all that was needed.
If fire trucks do not have these fitted then the government is seriously broken.
Hey guys have a look at you trucks.
I just heard on ABC TV say a truck had its brake apply in a serious situation near Nowra.

Temperatures

Ground temp 23.5
Sky temp is -3.3 and as low as -1.1
Water bombing has continued today
Yesterday the sky temp went off the scale that is over 100 degrees c on my machine.
Saturday they are forecasting worse conditions but I think the air temperature is no where as hot and the ground temperature is no where near the sixty mark. So I am thinking the worst is over in Nowra.