It's Still Winter In Australia, And The Bushfire Season Has Already Begun As Rainforest Lodge Burns

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A bushfire burns in the Gold Coast hinterland on Saturday, 7 September 2019. Photo: Aleksandar Romanov / AAP Image

The conservationists who built the secluded Binna Burra Lodge in Australia’s lush mountains more than 80 years ago hoped to protect and share the natural beauty of the surrounding rainforest. But over the weekend, a bushfire destroyed the beloved getaway, one of Australia’s oldest nature resorts — drawing tears from neighbors and alarm from officials who warned that climate change and drought threatened to bring Australia its worst fire season on record.

“This is an omen, if you will,” said Andrew Sturgess, who is in charge of fire prediction for the state of Queensland, where the lodge had stood in Lamington National Park. […] Fire season itself has become nearly a year-round trial, according to fire officials. Independent studies have also shown that the number of hot days in Australia has doubled in the past 50 years, while heat waves have become hotter and longer. Extreme weather events, such as flooding and cyclones, have intensified in frequency and strength, as well.


A bushfire burns in the Gold Coast hinterland on Saturday, 7 September 2019. Photo: Aleksandar Romanov / AAP Image

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Joëlle Gergis, a climate scientist and writer at the Australian National University, warned that Australia’s experience “is a sign of things to come.” She said she was especially alarmed by the losses near the Binna Burra in the Gold Coast hinterland.

“It is devastating to see these usually cool and wet rainforests burn,” she said. “Although these remarkable rainforests have clung on since the age of the dinosaurs, searing heat and lower rainfall is starting to see these wet areas dry out for longer periods of the year, increasing bushfire risk in these precious ecosystems.”

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https://desdemonadespair.net/2019/09/australia-rainforest-burns-as-bushfires-arrive-early-queensland-faces-worst-fire-threat-in-recorded-history-this-isnt-the-new-normal-were-going-to-see.html