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Mon, 19 Apr 2021
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Fire

Wildfire descends Table Mountain in South Africa, torching University of Cape Town

Gerald Imray
Associated Press
Mon, 19 Apr 2021 20:21 UTC
wildifre cape town south africa
© AP Photo/Jerome Delay
Residential neighborhoods are lit by raging fires in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday, April 19, 2021.
Firefighters in Cape Town finally brought a wildfire under control Monday after it swept across the slopes of the city's famed Table Mountain, burning the university's historic library and forcing the evacuation of some neighborhoods.

The smoldering fire is being watched for flareups amid high winds and hot, dry conditions.

City authorities said the fire, which started early Sunday, was "largely contained" more than 24 hours later.

The fire had already badly damaged the library and other buildings on the campus of the University of Cape Town on Sunday, as well as other historic buildings nearby. Fueled by the high winds, it spread through the wild bush on the mountain slopes toward the city's center and the surrounding residential areas.

Devil's Peak, one of the iconic points of the mountain which overlooks downtown Cape Town, was lit up by flames as the fire raged through the night. Residents of suburbs on the mountain slopes were evacuated early Monday as the blaze came dangerously close to their homes.

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Fire

Flights halted in Nepal after thick smoke from wildfires in 54 districts cut back visibility


NEWS ADDA
Sun, 28 Mar 2021 13:20 UTC
thick smoke
A thick layer of smoke diminished visibility in Nepal's Kathmandu and different cities on Friday (March 26) as 54 districts reported wildfires within the nation.

In response to the Meteorological Forecasting Division (MFD), a complete of 54 districts are actually engulfed by a forest hearth that's emitting smoke into the airspace of the Himalayan Nation that has resulted in a dip within the Air High quality Index (AQI).

As per the MFD, Chitwan, Parsa, Bara and Makwanpur are severely affected. All through Friday afternoon, the AQI of Kathmandu remained hazardous with Pm 2.5 index standing at 303.89 mg/m3.

The flights, each home and worldwide, have been both stored on maintain, diverted, and in some instances, have been cancelled because the Worldwide Airport in Kathmandu was compelled to be closed for about 4 hours as a result of a drop in visibility.

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Fire

Forest fires in Patagonia, Argentina leave 7 injured, 15 missing


Reuters
Fri, 12 Mar 2021 19:26 UTC
The sky glows orange as wildfires rage across
© Nir Ekdesman
The sky glows orange as wildfires rage across Golondrinas, Chubut province in Argentina, March 9.
At least seven people were injured and 15 more missing on Wednesday as forest fires ripped through Patagonia, official sources said.

Some 200 people had to be evacuated and around 100 homes were damaged by fire in an area of forests and lakes popular with tourists close to the Andes mountain range. Locations affected by the flames include Lago Puelo, El Bolsón, El Maitén, Epuyén, Futaleufú and El Hoyo.

"I'm going to file a criminal complaint because it was an intentional fire," said Environment Minister Juan Cabandié at a press conference.

President Alberto Fernández wrote on Twitter that the national government had "sent two helicopters, three fire hydrant planes, 12 fire engines, support vehicles and 62" firefighters to tackle the blaze.

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Attention

Environmental disasters across globe in January 2021


Anadolu Agency
Tue, 23 Feb 2021 18:55 UTC
flood
The first month of 2021 saw a host of environmental disasters, including floods in Malaysia and the Philippines, a volcanic eruption in Indonesia, a massive forest fire in India, landslides in Papua New Guinea and an avalanche in Russia.

Here is a timeline compiled by Anadolu Agency.

Jan. 2:

- Massive forest fire engulfs the picturesque Dzuko Valley located in northeastern India.

Jan. 3:

- The death toll from the landslide in the village of Ask, Norway, on Dec. 30, rises to six.

- Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra, Indonesia, erupts, spewing ash columns up to 1,000 meters high.
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Fire

More than 110 plant species in Australia had their entire ranges burned in the 2019-2020 megafires

AuthorBill Gabbert
Wildfire Today
Sun, 21 Feb 2021 13:06 UTC
Bushfire in Victoria, December, 2020

Bushfire in Victoria, December, 2020
Most are resilient to fire, however the scope of the blazes may leave some ecosystems susceptible to landscape-scale failure

More than 19 million acres in Australia burned in the bushfires of the 2019-2020 season, with seven individual fires exceeding 1 million acres. Researchers who have studied the impacts on the vegetation have determined that the entire ranges of 116 plant species burned along with 90 percent of the ranges of 173 species.

Most of the affected species are are resilient to fire. However, the massive scope of the megafires may leave some ecosystems, particularly the rainforests, susceptible to regeneration failure and landscape-scale decline.

Below are excerpts from a study by Robert C. Godfree, Nunzio Knerr, and Francisco Encinas-Viso, et al., published in Nature Communications February 15, 2021.
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Attention

World hammered by record 50 billion-dollar weather disasters in 2020

Jeff Masters
Yale Climate Connections
Mon, 25 Jan 2021 08:56 UTC
National Guard troops respond in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura in Lake Charles, Louisiana
© Josiah Pugh
National Guard troops respond in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Laura was Earth’s most expensive tropical cyclone of 2020, with $18.2 billion in damage.
Earth was besieged by a record 50 billion-dollar weather disasters in 2020, the most such disasters ever recorded after adjusting for inflation, said insurance broker Aon (formerly called Aon Benfield) in its annual report issued January 25. The previous record was 46 billion-dollar weather disasters, set in 2010 and 2011. The annual average of billion-dollar weather disasters since records began in 1990 is 29.

The combined economic losses (insured and uninsured) from all 416 weather and earthquake disasters cataloged by Aon in 2020 was $268 billion (2020 USD). Most of the 2020 total, by far, came from weather-related disasters ($258 billion), 29% above the 2001-2020 inflation-adjusted average. Those numbers make 2020 the fifth costliest year on record for weather-related disasters.

The year was the most expensive ever for severe weather (including severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, and hail), with $63 billion in damage (previous record: $53 billion in 2011). More than 80% of the severe weather damage occurred in the U.S. in 2020, including the costliest severe weather outbreak in world history, according to Aon: an August 2020 event that featured a violent derecho in the U.S. midwest that caused $11 billion of the $12.6 billion in damage of the outbreak, the balance caused by tornadoes, hail, and other severe thunderstorms.

Insured damage from wildfires in 2020 was $12 billion - the third highest on record, behind only 2017 and 2018. The year 2020 marked the third time in the past four years that global insured losses from wildfires exceeded $10 billion - a threshold never crossed prior to 2017. Remarkably, wildfire has caused more than $70 billion in insured losses since 2000, 75% of that in the past five years alone.

Comment: It is becoming more apparent that erratic seasons, extreme weather patterns and natural disasters are increasing, which is not a consequence of "human-caused climate change" (formerly known as man-made 'global warming') as parroted relentlessly by the MSM, but part of a natural cycle.

See also:

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Fire

Homes destroyed as out-of-control wildfire rages outside Perth, Australia

Evening Standard
YouTube
Tue, 02 Feb 2021 09:42 UTC
Perth wildfire
© YouTube/Evening Standard (screen capture)
An out-of-control wildfire burning north-east of the Australian west coast city of Perth has destroyed an estimated 30 homes and is threatening more, with many locals in the region told it is too late to leave. The 7,000-hectare blaze, which has a 47-mile perimeter, began on Monday and raged through the night near the town of Wooroloo, with the shires of Mundaring, Chittering, Northam, and the city of Swan impacted.

Swan mayor Kevin Bailey said more than 30 homes are believed to have been destroyed. "We are just waiting for confirmation of the numbers but we're looking somewhere in the vicinity of 30-plus homes lost," Mr Bailey said. He said one firefighter had been treated for smoke inhalation. There had been no other injuries. Read more: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world...

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Fire

Thousands evacuate as wildfires turn the sky red in Chile


Global News
Sat, 16 Jan 2021 09:03 UTC
Chile wildfires
© YouTube/Global News (screen capture)
Wildfires raged in Chile's Valparaiso region on Friday, turning the sky red and forcing the evacuation of thousands of people from their homes.

Authorities said at least 10 properties were engulfed by the fires sweeping through the forest area near Quilpue city.

No deaths or injuries have been reported. Officials ordered the evacuation of some 25,000 residents and hundreds of firefighters were deployed to help battle the fires.

Emergency authorities said the fires have blazed through some 400 hectares of forest, with firefighters concentrating their efforts on four focal points.

A local government official said authorities believe the wildfires were started deliberately.
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Fire

57,000 wildfires this year in the US - About 10 million acres burned

Yelena Dzhanova
Insider
Sat, 26 Dec 2020 13:20 UTC
A law enforcement officer watches flames launch into the air as fire continues to spread at the Bear fire in Oroville, California on September 9, 2020.
© Josh Edelson/AFP
A law enforcement officer watches flames launch into the air as fire continues to spread at the Bear fire in Oroville, California on September 9, 2020.
As 2020 winds to a close, firefighters are still struggling to contain three active California wildfires.

These three wildfires are part of the more than 57,000 that occurred this year, according to the National Interagency Fire Center, which tracks wildland fires.


As of December 23, these tens of thousands of wildfires have scorched more than 10.3 million acres, a record-high in at least a decade. Burned acres in the United States has not reached double-digit million figures in the last 10 years, according to the agency.

Last year, about 4.5 million acres were burned down because of about 49,000 wildfires.
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Cloud Lightning

Environmental disasters across globe in November 2020

Burak Bir
Anadolu Agency
Tue, 15 Dec 2020 15:49 UTC
flood
Seasonal Deyr rains, which hit Somalia between October and December, acutely impact the lives of roughly 73,000 people

November saw a host of global environmental disasters, including floods in Mexico and typhoon gales in the Philippines, as well as forest fires in Algeria and storms in Central America and Somalia.

Here is a timeline compiled by Anadolu Agency.

Nov. 2:

- At least 17 people die and tens of thousands of others evacuated to safer areas due to the ongoing typhoon in the Philippines, according to state media.

Nov. 4:

- A miniature tsunami hits coastal areas in Turkey after being triggered by an earthquake in the Aegean Sea, according to the head of Bogazici University's Kandilli Earthquake Research Institute.
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