The San Francisco Chronicle reports: Facebook plans to donate 720,000 masks — a combination of the coveted N95 respirators and more basic surgical masks — and 1.5 million pairs of gloves to health care workers around the world. Facebook officials said they bought the masks for their offices’ emergency disaster kits following wildfires in California. Facebook has already donated 375,000 masks…
Tag: Wildfires
Australia bush fires burned a globally unprecedented area of forest
Australia’s recent extreme wildfires burned 5.8 million hectares of forest, destroying about one fifth of the forest biome in eastern Australia over four months Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2234698-australia-bush-fires-burned-a-globally-unprecedented-area-of-forest/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Australian smoke plume sets records
The recent wildfires in Australia sent one of the largest plumes of smoke higher into the the stratosphere than satellites have ever before observed. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/australian-wildfires-smoke-plume-sets-records…
The Doomsday Clock Is Now Closer to Midnight Than It’s Ever Been
Long-time Slashdot reader Drakster writes: The Doomsday Clock, run by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, has moved forward to only 100 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever been since its launch in 1947. The lack of action on climate change and increasing threats of nuclear war were the primary reasoning for the move. They cite the weakening of…
Australia’s fires may accelerate a jump in CO2 forecasted in 2020
The UK’s Met Office is forecasting a big increase in CO2 levels in 2020, due in part to the extreme wildfires that have been burning for months in Australia Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2231267-australias-fires-may-accelerate-a-jump-in-co2-forecasted-in-2020/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Aussie Firefighters Save World’s Only Groves Of Prehistoric Wollemi Pines
As wildfires tear through Australia, a specialized team of firefighters has managed to save hidden groves of the Wollemi pine — a rare prehistoric tree that outlived the dinosaurs. The trees are so rare, they were thought to be extinct until 1994. From a report: It was a lifesaving mission as dramatic as any in the months-long battle against the wildfires…
2019 Was Hotter Than Any Year in the 20th Century
The 2010s were the hottest decade ever measured on Earth, and 2019 was the second-hottest year ever measured, scientists at NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced today. From a report: After a year of flash droughts, rampant wildfires, and searing heatwaves that set all-time records across Europe and turned parts of Greenland’s ice sheet into slush, the finding…
Analysis confirms that climate change is making wildfires worse
The extreme wildfires in Australia could become the new normal, as climate change is increasing the risk of weather conditions that lead to more severe fires Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2229902-analysis-confirms-that-climate-change-is-making-wildfires-worse/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Australia’s Wildfires Have Created More Emissions Than 116 Nations
“The wildfires raging along Australia’s eastern coast have already pumped around 400 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere,” reports MIT’s Technology Review, “further fueling the climate change that’s already intensifying the nation’s fires.” That’s more than the total combined annual emissions of the 116 lowest-emitting countries, and nine times the amount produced during California’s record-setting 2018 fire season….
Australian Megafire Engulfs Nearly 1.5 Million Acres
Two wildfires in New South Wales and Victoria have merged, forming a fire covering 2,300 square miles (6,300 square kilometers). Source: https://www.livescience.com/australian-megafire.forms.html