23 people are dead, 13 million acres of forest burnt, 500 million animals dead in Australian fire disaster. And climate deniers are engrossed in communal politics and permanent warfare

By Dilip -
Scores of homes have been lost to the fires, which have razed over 5.25 million hectares (13 million acres) of land since they began in November. Emotions were running high among firefighters who feel powerless to stop the raging fires. One firefighter who lost his home was filmed refusing to shake Mr Morrison’s hand on Friday when the prime minister visited Cobargo, NSW, where a father and son were killed by fires earlier in the week. 

On Twitter, author Matthew Battles said a firefighter friend wrote to him: “Fighting the fires has been very upsetting… I have never had a shift go less than 16 hours and once we went for 21 hours without a break. “My emotions are always only millimetres from the surface. I cry at the drop of a hat. I keep crying, because we cannot save all of the houses and people. “People beg us to save their horses, their cows, their dogs. There are burned animals piled against the remnants of the barbed wire fences. The cattle dogs will not leave the livestock they cared for. They die with the cows. I am crying now.”...
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/australia-wildfires-scott-morrison-death-toll-canberra-penrith-a9270076.html

 5 Environmental Stories That Could Define 2020

 500 million animals dead in Australian fire disaster
Ecologists from the University of Sydney are estimating 500 million animals have perished during Australia’s wildfires. That figure is likely to rise as the deadly fires run through Victoria and the New South Wales (NSW) Coast. On Thursday, NSW declared the fires a state of emergency. As the unprecedented heatwave continues to fuel the flames, the NSW expects the fires to intensify.  Australia has endured this continent-wide crisis since September, and reportedly the flames have formed a ring around the country. At least 17 people, moreover, have been killed with tens of thousands more left stranded. Additionally, the fires torched over 13 million acres, approximately the size of the Nether-lands. Along with this environmental officials told the Times that air quality in Sydney is as “bad as smoking 37 cigarettes.”
https://gritdaily.com/500-million-animals-dead-australia-wildfires/

see also
World military expenditure grows to $1.8 trillion in 2018
MONEY TO BURN: Over 300 banks and investors back 6 of the world’s most harmful agribusinesses to the tune of $44bn
John Sentamu - It’s time to act against the oil companies causing death and destruction
From Siberia to Australia: the age of fire is the bleakest warning yet
The real tukde-tukde gang




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