It's raining in Australia!

[catbyte]

Link to tweet

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. GOOD! GOOD! GOOD!

I sure hope it's widespread!

[malaise]

9. Here's a good report

https://earther.gizmodo.com/its-finally-raining-in-australia-1841040889
<snip>
After months of relentless heat and bone-dry conditions, parts of the continent are finally seeing much-needed rainfall. That could help quell the fires, but heavy downpours have also already led to debris flows, adding insult to injury in a country that really doesn’t need any more pain.

The shift in Australia’s weather began this week as more humid, tropical air finally began pushing over the continent. Thunderstorms and rain arrived on Thursday over Victoria and New South Wales, the two states hit hardest by bushfires. Attendees at the Australian Open in Melbourne opened umbrellas as opposed to dawning respirators, and Sydneysiders are preparing for more rain this weekend than they’ve seen in three months.

The weather pattern driving this shift is a big, old trough in the atmosphere replacing the ridge of high pressure that’s been parked over Australia. The high-pressure ridge essentially blocked rain from coming over the continent. The ridge also helped bake in heat and sunny skies for months on end, including one day where nary a drop of rain fell anywhere in the country and back-to-back days that were the hottest ever recorded for Australia. Those conditions stoked the flames, aided and abetted by climate change.

The trough swooping over the continent is ushering in rains from the southeast. Slow-moving storms have swept into the region, dropping two inches of rain a day with some areas seeing higher amounts locally as storms train over them, according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
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Great news

[CaliforniaPeggy]

17. Thanks so much, my dear malaise! Great news, indeed.

Just what I was looking for!

[dixiegrrrrl]

28. We know from Cal. experience this is a mixed blessing.

It will clear the air and put the fires out, but make floods high risk.
Still, after 4 years of no rain in NSWales, I can appreciate the guys happiness.

[Scarsdale]

29. Pure joy!

Made me laugh.

[MerryBlooms]

2. Yipee!

[ancianita]

3. I know my family in New Lambton is happy.

[Dem2theMax]

8. Those pictures made me cry.

So glad to see the Australians are getting some relief!

[Warpy]

4. That's good and bad news after huge fires

It puts out hot spots and allows anything alive in the soil to germinate, but it also brings flooding.

I hope it means the bad fires are over for this year. I hope that wildlife rescue has an unintended consequence, that of redistributing DNA among inbred groups in discontinuous habitat. I also hope people think a little more seriously about where they build their houses, that being outside the cities might be prettier but it's also so much more dangerous that unless they make their living off the land, it's just not worth it, and suburban sprawl ceases to be attractive.

I also hope the Oz government realizes that 2 lane sealed roads are inadequate, that a third lane, even a "suicide" passing lane, can double the highway capacity for evacuees in the next emergency.

Mostly, I hope the fires stay out. None of my friends there has been burned out, but all have suffered from the smoke and are mourning places they used to go on holiday that are now just burned out moonscapes.

[progree]

25. 100s Of Thousands Of Fish Killed In NSW's Macleay River After Rains Bring Down Ash From Fires

Hundreds of thousands of native fish are estimated to have died in northern New South Wales after rains washed ash and sludge from bushfires into the Macleay River. Parts of the Macleay River – favoured by recreational fishers – have been turned into what locals described as “runny cake mix” that stank of rotting vegetation and dead fish.

One freshwater ecologist told Guardian Australia the impact of the fish kill might be felt for decades to come, with long-lived species like Australian bass hit hard. The NSW Department of Primary Industries has been receiving reports of “hundreds of thousands” of fish dead in the river since December 2019.

... “The stench was overwhelming – it stank that much it made you heave. It’s the dead fish, the rotting vegetation and the ash from the fires and maybe the fire retardant. It is just like brown sludge.

More: https://www.democraticunderground.com/1127135502
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/17/hundreds-of-thousands-of-fish-dead-in-nsw-as-bushfire-ash-washed-into-river
Credit: hatrack and the Guardian

[pink]

5. I know

I live on the south coast of NSW in Australia, one of the worst effected areas. The fire came within a couple of kms of my house and it was a very scary time. I know a lot of people who lost their homes. Imagine the picture of our climate denying prime minister on holidays in Hawaii while the country burned. He had to be shamed into cutting his holiday short. Since the new year he has dropped in the polls by 9 points.

Many Australians and I have very much appreciated the concern shown by millions of people around the world. If any lesson can be learned from this experience, it should be that climate change exists and policies should change to counteract the apocalyptic events of the future.

[ancianita]

12. So glad for your luck, brother, and hope this lesson will be learned by the global fossil enablers.

No one WANTS to believe we're headed for climate crises that we can't undo.

It will be a scorched Earth if we don't act soon, as in "yesterday."

[pink]

15. So true. Every country must act now. n/t

[Rural_Progressive]

33. Been doing my best to spread the word

You guys are the equivalent, on a global scale, of the "canary in the coal mine". Due to many factors you are more sensitive to the effects of climate change than some areas of the world.

If we don't see what's happening on your continent as a warning for the rest of us, well I believe there is a high probability that we will all be screwed.

[Bayard]

6. WOOT!

What's the forecast?

[pink]

10. In my area

which if you can see on a map (Ulladulla, Milton, Mollymook area) there hasn't been a lot of rain, just occasional showers. The forecast is that it should stay that way for a couple more days. Driving from the top end of the south coast to half way down it is just devastation most of the way. Fortunately not too many lives were lost, but being an animal lover, my heart breaks for all the wildlife, live stock and domestic pets that were either burnt badly or killed in a horrific way. I thought 2019 was an awful year both politically and environmentally and that it could only improve in 2020. I was wrong.

[Maraya1969]

32. I am so sorry. I can't stand to watch videos of the animals hurt in these

fires. I can't imagine what it is like to be right there.

[wryter2000]

7. Thank heaven!

(The above is meant in the vernacular way, not as a religious message. I'm not interested in any discussions about the existence of a deity.)

I remember when it finally rained in California after the Camp Fire. It was such a blessing. What our friends in Australia have endured far outstrips any of our suffering. I'm hoping this is the beginning of the end to this horror.

Much love to our Aussie friends.!

[pink]

11. Your love is felt in Australia and is very much appreciated. n/t

[wryter2000]

20. Welcome to DU

We in California know what wild fires are like. People ask if the earthquakes scare me. Heck no, and I lived through Loma Prieta. But the fires!

I've been imagining our fires but consuming so much more of your beautiful country, and my heart has been breaking for you all and for the precious animals. I only hope to God, this has awakened some people, especially those with the power to do something about climate change.

[pink]

23. What has made me so angry

is that Murdoch (number 1 climate change denier) has had his media report that the fires were started by arsonists or the Greens' policies of forest clearance. It is such a massive lie that even James, his son, has come out criticizing him. We have had 4 years of drought (a symptom of climate change) and the fires were mostly started by lightning strikes. What is so scary nowadays is that the fires are more ferocious than ever and they form their own weather pattern. It is called pyronimbiscumulus conditions where lightning strikes form within a fire. Where I live, the fire is not totally out but is being controlled.

Thankyou for your concern

[catbyte]

24. Every time I encounter one of those willfully ignorant slobs spewing the arsonist lies, I send them

this:



Welcome to DU! My heart breaks for Australia and I hope that the worst is over.

[pink]

27. Thankyou n/t

[mcar]

13. This is good news

thanks for posting.

[tblue37]

14. Excellent! nt

[pazzyanne]

16. YEA!!!!!!!!

[backtoblue]

18. Kick and Rec!

[AllaN01Bear]

19. hope its enough to put out the fires but not cause any more associated problems with the fires .

does snoopy dance

[dlk]

21. Hallelujah!

[dominic savio]

22. rain glorious rain

Thank Gaia, finally.

[wendyb-NC]

26. That a cause for celebration!

Glad to hear it . It is welcome news.

[cstanleytech]

30. Hopefully it's a substantial amount of rain as if it's only

enough to encourage new growth it could make things worse.

[Maraya1969]

31. I so hope the government takes advantage of this and puts all sorts of

efforts into planting trees and whatever else they can do to stave off this kind of a situation from happening again.

I've seen on this forum those moss filled artificial trees that are like planting 275 real trees. And I posted about the guy who knows how to turn draught land into lush green land just planting different plants on specific areas.

[ZWQ]

34. Great!

Great news

[Hekate]

35. Thank God. All the best, friends.