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Record-breaking heatwave devastates Australia with fires and blackouts

Australia faces worst heatwave since 2009’s Black Saturday with record temperatures of 48.9°C, widespread wildfires, and thousands without power.

Record-breaking heatwave devastates Australia with fires and blackouts
World
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Australia is facing a severe heatwave in recent days, which has sparked wildfires, created problems in the energy grid and left thousands of homes without power. This particular heatwave represents the worst recorded in the region since “Black Saturday” in 2009, when fires claimed 173 lives, and it is not expected to subside before the weekend, according to authorities. “We are now on the fifth day of a serious to severe heatwave here in Victoria and we are starting to see some of that impact,” said Victoria’s Emergency Management Commissioner Tim Wiebusch.

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Australia: Climate change and very unusual temperatures behind the heatwave

David Crock, a meteorologist from Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology, said the heatwave is due to climate change and characterized the temperatures as “very unusual.” “The severity of this heatwave compares to the heatwave in January 2009 and also that of January 1939,” Crock said. “The data shows long-term increases in the frequency and intensity of heatwaves, particularly after 2000 due to climate change.” Crock said a series of temperature records were broken in Victoria. “About 20 stations, mainly in western Victoria recorded records either historic or for the month of January,” he said. In towns in the Mallee region, temperatures reached 48.9 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature ever recorded in the state.

The heatwave in Victoria subsided slightly in recent hours, while the northern areas in the western part of New South Wales state and the southwestern part of Queensland recorded temperatures above 48 degrees Celsius late in the afternoon (local time). About 11,000 properties have been left without power in Victoria, compared to 105,000 a day earlier. Firefighters were trying to extinguish six major fires, three of which are out of control.

A fire at Carlisle River in the Otway region has burned over 110,000 acres and destroyed at least 16 buildings. “This Carlisle River fire is far from over,” said Chris Hardman, chief fire officer of Victoria’s Forest Fire Management Service. Many communities in the state continue to recover from major grassland fires earlier this month, which were also caused by a severe heatwave. More than 400 homes and 4 million acres of land have been lost so far.

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