I wonder how many Australians still feel that we are in a ‘climate emergency’?
To my mind this climate emergency is ongoing.
I have the feeling that our politicians treat us mostly as though we were children. They try to keep us in the dark as much as possible. But I think even children should not be treated like this. When children notice, they have been conned, they do feel terrible. Most children notice eventually that they have been lied to. I do not believe that this makes them feel better.
I realize of course that there are quite a few adults who want to put off facing the truth. These adults do not seem to mind a few lies just to keep them going. I keep thinking about global warming. It seems to me. to have to put up with warming of 2C, is something that is more or less already a given and requires enormous adjustments all over the world. We could at least aim to not let it go further than 2C. For that we desperately need leadership of corporations and governments!
I think I took this picture of the above poster the last time we were at the Nan Tien Temple, probably about one year ago. One can see a lot of similar posters all around te grounds of the temple. I always like to have a look at some of the verses that are displayed there. It makes me think really what sort of meaning do our lives have . . .
After a long summer break, the Australian Parliament is back in session. For many weeks and months an awful lot of Australia has been effected by immense bushfires. These fires brought great suffering to many communities on the fringes of or in the midst of immense fires. After the fires went through some places look like they have been destroyed during a war! Yes, places do look like this after a lot of fighting or terrible bomb raids during a war! You could say, Australia is in a warlike situation at the moment. Of course right now ‘only’ certain areas in a number of Australian states are effected. But to keep the flames away from major built up centres requires an enormous amount of firefighters, emergency workers (a lot of them volunteers) amd equipment. Australia has always had droughts and bushfires. But the droughts are getting more severe and the bushfires with very hot winds are getting worse than ever. There is an enormous amount of very dry fuel that can burn for months on end. The bushfire seasons do start now earlier and last longer, and the temperature can be in the 40sC or even in the 50sC in a lot of places. Heatwaves like this with little moisture can appear again and again all through spring, summer and autumn. So our climate is changing more and more. There is no doubt about it.
There is talk about it, that a lot of people, adults as well as children, are traumatised by these bushfires. They need counselling for they can’t cope with their lives after having lost everything in a bushfire. I think the best help they can get is a roof over their heads somewhere and the necessities to start from scratch again. Surely, if they know, there is help available to get them on their feet again, they can learn to once more look with hope to the future!
Bandt says party members should have a say in leadership in the future, but not until federal conference in May sorts out the process. #auspoI@Clarke_Melissa@abcnews
Anna Henderson
✔@annajhenderson
Bandt – says some big companies should be held partially responsible for the summer bushfires #auspol@abcnews@jacksongs
Using less power, eating less meat, avoid flying, reduce water consumption: If I keep this in mind, am I then on the way to become a good world citizen?
Well, using electricity only when needed, for instance turning off lights in rooms that are not being used, turning off cooling or heating in rooms that are not being used, surviving in room temperature of 28C when the outside temperature is more than 33C, try to use as little water as possible when it has not rained sufficently, using the car only when absolutely necessary. Some of this is not always easily achieved but I try to keep it more and more in mind. The only thing I have no difficulty with is, that is eating very little meat. I have never liked to eat a lot of meat!
Another issue is flying. Since 1977 I have been flying overseas more than half a dozentimes. I tell myself, I should in future not fly anymore at all. But can I really stick to it? If Australia would be in the midst of WW3 right now, I am sure I would not be able to fly anywhere. At the moment we behave in Australia as though we are far away from having actual war conditions. We should really restrict ourselves as though absolute war conditions did apply. Itseems to me most people do not think this way, not yet anyway. Most people seem to want to ignore that there is a worrying increase in climate change, at least they want to ignore this in their personal lives.
Professor Palutikof says, people have to be prepared ‘for the changes that they are going to have to make’, meaning for instance using less power, eating less meat, avoid flying, reduce water consumption.
“We would need 3.4 Earths if everyone had my lifestyle. . . .”
“I always thought I was environmentally responsible. But when I calculated my family’s carbon emissions I was shocked by the result,” writes Madeleine Morris.
In this article by Madeleine Morris it says that the average Australian footprint is 15.37 tonnes of CO2 and vastly above the EU average of 6.4 tonnes.
It also says that Jean Palutikof from the Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility says about the impacts of climate change that we need to do to reduce them while we still can.
“People are going to have to change their way of life,” she said.
“There is this rhetoric about the Government taking action, but actually what that means is that people will themselves have to take action.”
Madeleine Morris is News Breakfast’s finance presenter. Previously she was a Melbourne-based reporter for 7.30, and worked for the BBC in London for 11 years as an international reporter and presenter.
Madeleine Morris says: “I calculated my carbon footprint and now my family will try to cut our emissions by 7.6 per cent”
They were taken on a flight from Canberra to Melbourne
Photo of smoke from bushfires by Merrin Macleod on a flight from Canberra to Melbourne, posted January 4, 2020.
While on a flight from Canberra to Melbourne Merrin Macleod had an excellent view of pyrocumulus clouds over very active bushfires. She said on Twitter, “The country looks like ten or fifteen volcanoes have gone off.”
If the pilot had taken the most direct route to Melbourne they would have flown over many very active fires. The photos are used here with her permission.
Satellite photo of smoke from fires in New South Wales and Victoria December 3, 2020. The red areas represent heat. NASA image processed by Wildfire Today.
Below is actual flight path for her 50-minute flight. About 16 minutes after takeoff the aircraft was 36,000 feet over the NSW/Victoria border.
The actual flight path from Canberra to Melbourne. Flightaware.Photo of smoke from bushfires by Merrin Macleod on a flight from Canberra to Melbourne, posted January 4, 2020.
A pyrocumulus cloud is produced by the intense heating of the air over a fire. This induces convection, which causes the air mass to rise to a point of stability, where condensation occurs. If the fire is large enough, the cloud may continue to grow, becoming a cumulonimbus flammagenitus which may produce lightning and start another fire.
Photo of smoke from bushfires by Merrin Macleod on a flight from Canberra to Melbourne, posted January 4, 2020.Photo of smoke from bushfires by Merrin Macleod on a flight from Canberra to Melbourne, posted January 4, 2020.Photo of smoke from bushfires by Merrin Macleod on a flight from Canberra to Melbourne, posted January 4, 2020.Photo of smoke from bushfires by Merrin Macleod on a flight from Canberra to Melbourne, posted January 4, 2020.
One thought on “Stunning photos of pyrocumulus over fires in Australia”
Thank you for posting these photos. We need as many of these as we can get if we are to learn about these dangerous fire plumes and their causes. We obtained similar photos during the 2003 wildfires in the same area from a linescan aircraft crew and from the crew of a doomed NASA space shuttle.
We have had truly remarkable pyro-convective events occurring in southeast Australia in recent weeks. The list of Australian pyroCbs (much easier to say than pyrocumulus flammigenitus or pyrocumulonimbus), has been growing rapidly since 2001. This year the total may double. We have had pyroCbs that are among the most severe ever recorded. The extremely dense smoke was injected up to 16km into the air, into the stratosphere, as well into low- and mid- levels. We can see in Merrin’s photos that the plumes are above the flight height of the aircraft.
As we have seen in the past, over a quarter of these events happen around midnight, with the fires sustained by the mixing down of very dry air from above the mixing height.
We have a lot more to learn.
Some December Writing Challenge/ Prompts: Today I chose Day 17 and Day 22!
Day 17 Home: Tell us about what home meant to you this year. Are you a homebody? Did you do a renovation? Move? Redecorate?
Day 22 A picture is worth a 1,000 words. Share a photo which sums up a significant event from the past year, or give us 1,000 words about a pivotal moment in 2019.
Peter took the above pictures about a month ago. TheJacaranda was in full bloom at that time of the year!
For the Writing Challenge I copy now a blog with pictures I published a month ago. These pictures show that we had some plantagen shutters installed: I think they do contribute to some improvement in our house!
Some of the pictures show how a new back fence was installed on our property, which is another improvement!
Speaking about a significant event from the past year. I would say it was the event of the marriage of Troy and Nina. It means, now all three of our grandsons have been married! Our three great-grandsons, aged 7, 5 and 3, were at the wedding and had a good time together. Our newest great-granddaughter, Baby Evie, was at the wedding too. Evie is the baby sister of 3 year old Carter. 7 year old Lucas and his 5 year old brother Alexander are cousins of Carter and Evie. The three boys love each others company very much!
This picture of afternoon tea with my friends was already taken towards the End of September.This must have been a Friday for it looks that we are about to play our game of Scrabble!
This is a favourite bin of ours in Corrimal. It is great to be able to recycle things!
In October we did get plantagen shutters installed in several rooms.
Carter with his baby sister on the day of Nina and Troy’s wedding
Next to Peter are Caroline and Matthew
Part of our back fence had to be replaced because of storm damage. It took quite a long time from when the contractors took the old fence down and the new fence was finally completed.
The finishing touches of getting a new fence! Actually the work still has not been totally finished!
Peter one month ago on his morning walk
Pictures I took in the morning, also one month ago:
Thank you for posting these photos. We need as many of these as we can get if we are to learn about these dangerous fire plumes and their causes. We obtained similar photos during the 2003 wildfires in the same area from a linescan aircraft crew and from the crew of a doomed NASA space shuttle.
We have had truly remarkable pyro-convective events occurring in southeast Australia in recent weeks. The list of Australian pyroCbs (much easier to say than pyrocumulus flammigenitus or pyrocumulonimbus), has been growing rapidly since 2001. This year the total may double. We have had pyroCbs that are among the most severe ever recorded. The extremely dense smoke was injected up to 16km into the air, into the stratosphere, as well into low- and mid- levels. We can see in Merrin’s photos that the plumes are above the flight height of the aircraft.
As we have seen in the past, over a quarter of these events happen around midnight, with the fires sustained by the mixing down of very dry air from above the mixing height.
We have a lot more to learn.