Aussie Bushfire Update No 19: Sydney records hottest day ever almost 50 deg C: Fires unprecedented in the last 16 years (Data): Dangerous PM2.5 particulates values

South China Morning Post

Credit BOM

• 1365 homes have been destroyed in NSW this bushfire season 2439 outbuildings and facilities have been destroyed 20 people are dead and almost 500 million animals have died
• 'Hottest place on the planet': Penrith in Sydney's west approached 50 degrees today when the mercury reached an incredible 48.9 deg C, (120 deg F)
• Data collected by CAMS shows that the fires are unprecedented when compared to the previous 16 years for New South Wales
• The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) recorded a reading of 48.9C at 3pm, smashing the previous record of 47.3C set in January 2018.
• Bushfires represent the catastrophic beginning of a bleak future for the country’s native flora and fauna.

'Hottest place on the planet': Penrith in Sydney's west approached 50 degrees today when the mercury reached an incredible 48.9 deg C, (120 deg F). As the bushfire threat across large parts of NSW remained critical into Saturday afternoon ahead of predicted volatile winds, heat records tumbled and residents struggled to find ways to cool down. A spokeswoman for the Bureau of Meteorology said heatwave conditions were experienced across the south-east of the country as north-westerly winds carried hot air from inland Australia. Sydney Morning Herald

Smoke plumes over New South Wales (left), Total Fire Radiative Power for New South Wales since 2003 (right). Credit: ECMWF Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service

CAMS As significant numbers of bushfires burn in New South Wales and Queensland, Australia, the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), monitors their intensity and emissions. Data collected by CAMS shows that the fires are unprecedented when compared to the previous 16 years for New South Wales. Copernicus

Bushfires represent the catastrophic beginning of a bleak future for the country’s native flora and fauna.

'Silent death': Australia's bushfires push countless species to extinction Millions of animals have been killed in the fires but the impact on flora and fauna is grimmer even than individual deaths
ecologists fear the bushfires represent the catastrophic beginning of a bleak future for the country’s native flora and fauna. “It feels like we have hit a turning point that we predicted was coming as a consequence of climate change,” Legge said. “We are now in uncharted territory.” Bushfires don’t just burn animals to death but create starvation events. Birds lose their breeding trees and the fruits and invertebrates they feed on. Ground-dwelling mammals that do survive emerge to find an open landscape with nowhere to hide, which one ecologist said became a “hunting arena” for feral cats and foxes. Guardian

Visualisation of PM2.5 over Australia using Earthwindmap shows the high particulate matter values in the country The Big Wobble

Australia Bakes xx For days we've been warned it was coming, and communities across New South Wales are fighting to save their towns, as the bushfire emergency roared back to life.
  Multiple emergency level fires burn across the state, whilst several people in the Victorian town of Mallacoota have been stranded unable to escape via military aircraft due to thick smoke.

Wildfires 2020

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