Seriously looking at this...

Grappler Truth Teller Feller wrote on Feb 10^th, 2017 at 8:37pm:

Lap it up, how much coal have you burnt today, do you think your contribution to green house gasses have zero effect, a neutral effect or a positive effect on my planet, time for nuclear until something less damaging to our lungs comes along.

Records smashed across NSW

The highest temperature in the state on Saturday was Ivanhoe at 47.6C; the highest record for anywhere in NSW was recorded in 1939 at 49.7C.

There were many records broken across the state:

Penrith on Saturday reached 46.9C, beating its previous record of 46.5C;
Forbes recorded 45.5C, with its previous record only 44C;
Williamtown also reached 45.5C after a previous high of 44.7C.

On Sunday, conditions would intensify in centres including Dubbo, Coonabarabran and Narrabri in the north through to the Hunter Valley and the coast at Port Stephens.

The Bureau of Meteorology said very hot conditions associated with the mass of air, combined with fresh westerly winds over the southern half of the state, meant severe fire danger throughout Saturday for the Central and Southern ranges, Lower Central West and Hunter districts.

The monster hot air mass hovering over NSW had had "a baking effect" on vegetation, which meant extreme warnings would pose major risks.

Mr Fitzsimmons urged people to prepare early and stay out of danger by spending time at the movies or a local shopping centre.

The Australian Market Energy Operator said NSW faced a possible lack of power supply on Saturday afternoon, with the risk increasing into the evening.

AGL cut back on electricity use in the afternoon at its Tomago Aluminium Smelter in Newcastle, which uses about 10 per cent of the state's power.

Australia is currently the hottest place on the planet with the heatwave in SE Australia according to the Climate Reanalyzer site for Saturday 11 February. And last year (2016) was the hottest year on the planet in recorded history, following two previous years which also set the record.

As heat temperature records tumbled in south east Australia in the heatwave, catastrophic fireweather conditions were being experienced on Sunday over a wide region from Port Stephens in the Hunter Region, Tablelands and the Central West region of New South Wales. These conditions are categorized as a greater danger than the Victorian Black Saturday bushfires of 2009 which killed 173 people directly in the bushfires and 374 excess deaths due to the heatwave.

We have an energy crisis with load shedding ocurring in South Australia on Wednesday (that needn’t have occurred), and load shedding in NSW on Friday and Saturday with the Tomago Aluminium plant being ordered to curtail production and energy use.

But what you will find largely absent in the media and comments by politicians on the heatwave is any reference to climate change which is an essential driving factor of more intense heatwave conditions and catastrophic fireweather.

The mining and burning of coal is a large contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and needs to be phased out in an orderly way to meet our international commitments on climate change. The only ‘but’ would be if carbon capture and storage (CCS) was developed at scale and at reasonable cost, and I don’t see enough research and investment to make this happen in a realistic timeframe.

...

Catastrophic fireweather warned
RFS Fire Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons warned about conditions for Sunday at a Saturday press briefing:

“The conditions for Sunday are the worst possible conditions when it comes to fire ratings. They are catastrophic, they are labelled catastrophic for a reason, … and to put it simply they are off the old conventional scale. We used to stop our fire danger ratings at 100, but we are talking about indices up over 150, 160 tomorrow which is quite extraordinary. We haven’t seen this in NSW to this extent, ever.”

Big words, and an emphasis that the fire conditions are worse than Victoria’s Black Saturday conditions of 2009.

“This is simply not a safe environment which is why we are making it very clear to people that the only safe place to be is not in those risk areas particularly in these extreme and catastrophic regions of NSW tomorrow. We simply cannot guarantee that a fire truck will be at every home or property under these conditions. We cannot guarantee that aircraft will knock down these fires and let firefighters gain the upper hand. We cannot guarantee that a warning, a telephone message, a knock at the door will occurr for everyone that comes under threat tomorrow.”

Health in extreme heat
Dominic Morgan from the NSW Ambulance service highlighted that in the previous 24 hours there have been a number of near drownings, and 20 children or animals rescued from cars. This has necessitated increased activity of the ambulance service, but it is currently responding well. He emphasised the need to take care of elderly and ensure they are in a cool or well ventilated place. And for everyone to keep up the hydration.

“Clinically diagnosed heat stroke is a potentially life threatening condition. It can be characterised by severe dehydration, delirium, persistently high temperatures, unconsciousness and even fitting.”

His principal message was to Check on your neighbours, check on your friends, check on your family.

Underscoring his message is the fact that extreme heat is a silent killer responsible for more deaths than any other natural cause, including bushfires. I raised in October 2014: Are we mitigating the health risk of worsening heatwaves due to climate change?

Temperature records broken on Saturday
By mid Saturday several records had been broken, according to Steven Elliott of the Bureau of Meteorology. These included:

stretch of 10 days > 35C in Sydney, previous record was 9 days
2 days above 40C in Canberra an equaling record in 1968 and 2009
NSW highest minimum temperature record broken at Whitecliffs with 34.2C. Past record 33.3C at Tibbooburra in 1915
Further records likely to be broken in coming days
Penrith reached 46.9 C on Saturday setting a new record. Previous hottest 46.5 C on 18 Jan 2013.

An update on temperatures and weather conditions from the BOM on Sunday afternoon:

Unforgiven wrote on Feb 12^th, 2017 at 6:43pm:


I can believe that, I was there!

And you thought it was hot now? How a 24-DAY heatwave on Australia's east coast in January 1896 saw temperatures climb to 49 degrees and killed 437 people

    An extreme 24-day heatwave in January 1896 saw temperatures hit 48C
    It saw people fleeing cities and killed 437 people including many children
    The maximum temperature was above 38.9 degrees for over three weeks
    Hospitals were overcrowded and people were dropping dead in the streets

Temperatures above 38 degrees for nearly a month, bushfires burning across the country and people dropping dead in the streets.

This was the grim reality of a 24-day heatwave which killed 437 people in Australia in January 1896.

The extreme weather event was described as feeling 'like a furnace' and recorded much higher temperatures than the east coast is set to swelter through this week.

An extreme Australian heatwave in January 1896 killed over 400 people and hospitalised many more.

A heatwave across Australia's east coast at the weekend has been described as one of the worst in living memory

A heatwave across Australia's east coast at the weekend has been described as one of the worst in living memory
Many children were among those who died

There were temperatures above 119F (48C)

Newspapers at the time reported temperatures above 119F (48C), and that many children were among those who died

It was a hot start to 1896 and by January 14, newspapers were reporting people were dying from a range of complications brought on by the extreme temperatures.

By the third week of the year, 12 infants had died from heat-related illnesses in Goulburn, NSW, alone, a report on JoNova about the heatwave revealed.

People were fleeing the cities on trains to seek refuge in the mountainous regions of the country, and one child escaping the heat 'died at the moment the train arrived'.

Hospitals were at breaking point, and the death toll was rising.

By January 17 the mercury had climbed to 48.9C in Bourke, in north-west NSW. However there has been some dispute about the accuracy in temperature recordings due to changing methods over time.

'The hospital is crowded, and a number of people are dangerously ill. More deaths are hourly expected,' a newspaper article from January 18, 1896 read.

The heat was sending people 'insane', leaving them helplessly wandering the streets before collapsing.

Cattle died by the hundreds, water tanks dried up and the death toll continued to rise as the heatwave entered its fourth week.

The historic heatwave saw temperatures climb to 49 degrees and forced people to flee to the mountains in search of reprieve.

The historic heatwave saw temperatures climb to 49 degrees and forced people to flee to the mountains in search of reprieve.

At the weekend the regional town of Urarby in NSW's central-west was wiped out by bushfires

Trains leaving Sydney's west for the mountains were packed and the government ran extra services at discount prices for those seeking relief from the heat.

By January 24 the heatwave was declared 'an unprecedented record', and the death toll in Bourke alone had risen to 35.

'The residents are really panic-stricken, and hundreds are leaving for cooler climates', one report in the newspaper revealed.

Most businesses across NSW had closed their doors by this point, except for hotels, as residents laid low waiting for the streak to break.

In other parts of the country temperatures had not dropped below 37 degrees since late 1895.

More than 120 years later, Sydney and other parts of Australia sweated through one of the worst heatwaves in living memory last week, recording four days over 40 degrees.
The 1896 heatwave saw people dropping dead in the streets as the stifling heat stretched on for 24 days. In Bourke (seen here in 1893) temperatures were nudging 50C

There were widespread blackouts, bushfires continue to burn around the country, and while this week will bring temporary reprieve, the mercury is set to climb once again.

About 60 fires were still burning on Monday night, including 19 uncontained blazes, and a Watch and Act alert remained in place for the Sir Ivan fire in central west NSW.

Despite a relief for NSW residents, hot temperatures are set to climb again from Wednesday, with a top of 28C forecast for Sydney before reaching 34C by Saturday.

Western suburbs are expected to endure a three-day heatwave, with temperatures set to soar 38C from Thursday.

Meanwhile, heavy rain, strong winds and hailstorm hit southeast of Queensland overnight.

More than 20,000 homes across the state have been left without power as damaging winds and heavy rainfall continue to move east.