The scale of NSW bushfires is beginning to emerge in November 2019

Huge smoke plumes from cluster of wildfires on Australia's east coast. pic.twitter.com/2PWPjIo1Yx

— Dakota Smith (@weatherdak) November 7, 2019

The New South Wales Northern Rivers region has been experiencing widespread  bushfires since September 2019. According to the NSW Rural Fire Service est. 1,055,168 hectares were on fire on 8-9 November - that's over 2,607,376 acres.

On 9-10 November est. 195,347 hectares on the Mid-North Coast were alight - that's another 482,713 acres.

Elsewhere, between 8-10 November the Tenterfield area had 48,991 hectares burning and another 29 local government areas were also battling bushfires.

Today 41 NSW local government areas officially have a High fire danger rating and another 26 have a Very High fire danger rating, with no rain forecast except for 1mm between Albury and the coast on the NSW-Vic border.

As of 12.30am there were 74 bush fires still burning across the state, 43 are still not under control, 1 fire remains at Emergency Warning and 15 are at Watch and Act.

The end is not yet in sight.

Alan Jones gets told

Short and sweet.......

The Daily Telegraph, letters to the editor, 31 October 2019p.24:

Going against the flow 

Once again the master statistical manipulator Alan Jones has shot himself in the foot with ignorant claims about the annual water outflow of the Clarence River in northern NSW. As a riverside resident for the past 15 years I’d like to inform Mr Jones that there has been no five million megalitre per annum flows since March 2013 and for the past three years you can straddle the river with both feet upstream of Copmanhurst without getting wet.

Brian Gane, Grafton

Every time Australian lobby groups supporting the fossil fuel industry open their mouths just remember this video

4mins that you *must* watch.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez grills former Exxon scientists on Exxon’s startlingly accurate climate change predictions from late 70s & early 80s...

... and Exxon’s subsequent campaign to seed climate change doubt/denial.

pic.twitter.com/Wo9T5Ep6t0

— Mike Galsworthy (@mikegalsworthy) October 26, 2019

The Guardian (Australia) pledge on climate change reporting

This pledge is at the bottom of a number of The Guardian webpages: 

We will not stay quiet… 

...on the escalating climate crisis. This is the Guardian's pledge: we will continue to give global heating, wildlife extinction and pollution the urgent attention and prominence they demand. The Guardian recognises the climate emergency as the defining issue of our times. 

Our independence means we are free to investigate and challenge inaction by those in power. We will inform our readers about threats to the environment based on scientific facts, not driven by commercial or political interests. And we have made several important changes to our style guide to ensure the language we use accurately reflects the environmental catastrophe. 

In Australia, we commit to delivering the most comprehensive environmental reporting in the country. We will hold those in power to account for their inadequate national response and keep our focus on the actions of the Morrison government. Guardian Australia will continue to pursue deep investigations into the most important environmental issues. 

The Guardian believes that the problems we face on the climate crisis are systemic and that fundamental societal change is needed. We will keep reporting on the efforts of individuals and communities around the world who are fearlessly taking a stand for future generations and the preservation of human life on earth. We want their stories to inspire hope. We will also report back on our own progress as an organisation, as we take important steps to address our impact on the environment. 

The Guardian made a choice: to keep our journalism open to all. We do not have a paywall because we believe everyone deserves access to factual information, regardless of where they live or what they can afford. 

We hope you will consider supporting the Guardian’s open, independent reporting today. Every contribution from our readers, however big or small, is so valuable.

Cartoon of the Week

The Cathy Wilcox

The drying of Australia is beginning to bite its capital cities in 2019

Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Water Storage Summary, 27 October 2019:

Thirty-five days days out from the start of the Australian summer and in the third year of another severe drought -  as of 26 October 2019 - Hobart had 24.8% less stored water than the same day in 2018, Darwin 22.5% less, Brisbane 16.5% less, Sydney 14.9% less, Canberra 12.4% less, Perth 7.7% less, Adelaide 2.4% less and Melbourne 0.6% less.

Current storage levels in the capital cities are:

Australia wide total water storage stood at:

While Rural Water Storage Systems stood at:

Australian Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction & Liberal MP for Hume Angus Taylor is not having a good year

The Guardian, 26 October 2019:

Clover Moore rejects Angus Taylor's explanation of document he used to attack her............ Sydney’s lord mayor has categorically rejected Angus Taylor’s version of how he came to rely on 
inaccurate figures of the council’s travel spending to attack her, saying “there were no alternative versions of the document” on 
the council’s website at any time.

INFOGRAPHIC: Energy Minister Angus Taylor has once again 

repeated a misleading claim on inheriting an "emissions deficit" 

from Labor. (RMIT ABC Fact Check), 24 October 2019

The Guardian at 4:05pm on 24 October 2019 reported that Labor will refer the matter of the alleged false documents used by Minister for Energy Angus Taylor to the police under Sect 253 of the Crimes Act 1900 if the federal government doesn't do so within 24 hours.

The Guardian, 23 October 2019:

Angus Taylor baselessly accused Sydney’s lord mayor of driving
up carbon emissions by spending $15m on travel, a claim that was 
later backed up with a doctored council document provided to the 
Daily Telegraph, which reported the figure.

On 30 September, the Telegraph reported on page three that the 
“City of Sydney Council’s outlay on flights outstrips that of 
Australia’s foreign ministers”.

The story quoted a letter sent by Taylor to the mayor, Clover 
Moore, saying the council’s annual report for 2017-18 “shows 
your council spent $1.7m on international travel and $14.2m 
on domestic travel”, contrasting the spending with Moore’s 
declaration of a climate emergency in June.

City of Sydney’s publicly available annual report shows 
councillors spent $1,727.77 on overseas travel and $4,206.32 
on domestic travel. 

In total, the council spent $229,000 on travel during 2017-18, 
under its $300,000 budget.After the story was published, Moore
vigorously disputed the figures on Twitter. In subsequent emails 
between the Telegraph and Moore’s office, the paper justified the 
figures using a document supplied by Taylor’s office, purporting 
to be the council’s annual report.

But the document provided to the Telegraph shows wildly different 
figures, which appeared in a strange format unlike the one used 
elsewhere in the annual report.

It is unclear who altered the document. There is no suggestion 
that Taylor himself was responsible.

The council is adamant that it did not alter the figures. It said it 
had checked the metadata to establish that the report had not 
been changed on its website since being posted in November 
2018.

The Daily Telegraph & ANGUS TAYLOR ‼️

3 options you could be:

STUPID
DISHONEST
BOTH

No one expects any better from the Murdoch Press then again no expects any better from Angus Taylor just waiting for his next sleazy deal.#Auspol

Link to full story: https://t.co/3mZTUud5oN pic.twitter.com/b6PGDdJfMR

— 💧 Sleeping Giants Oz 📣 (@slpng_giants_oz) October 23, 2019

The Guardian, 24 August 2019:

Angus Taylor did not declare at a meeting with environment 
officials about critically endangered grasslands that he had 
a financial interest in a company that was under investigation 
for poisoning them.

And no notes were taken by the senior department official 
who attended the meeting in 2017, a Senate committee has
heard.

Officials from the environment and energy department gave 
the evidence at a special hearing of the Senate’s inquiry into 
the extinction crisis on Friday....

ABC News, 20 August 2019:

New figures show Australia's carbon emissions are continuing 
to climb despite Federal Government assurances it has the 
policy framework to address climate change.

In the year to March, emissions rose 0.6 per cent on the previous 
year, according to data released by Energy and Emissions 
Reduction Minister Angus Taylor......

The Guardian, 2 May 2019:

The energy minister, Angus Taylor, has denied he played a role 
in structuring the company which received an $80m government 
buyback of its water rights through the tax haven of the Cayman Islands.

Taylor, who was a director of Eastern Australia Agriculture between 
2008 and 2009 and who described himself as a co-founder of the 
company, told ABC Radio National on Thursday morning he was 
involved only in advising on the agricultural side of the investment.

He said he severed all involvement in the company prior to being 
elected to parliament.

EAA was paid $80m for its overland flow water rights without 
tender in 2017 when Barnaby Joyce was agriculture minister......

Cartoons of the Week

Alan Moir

A Costa

Two lives lost and 88 homes destroyed across northern NSW to date in 2019 bushfire season

Bushland and grass fires are still burning across the Northern Rivers region and NSW predominately volunteer 'firies' are still keeping the flames from our doors where and when they can.

Here is the sad toll......

NSW Rural Fire Service, media release, 16 October 2019:

The NSW Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) has confirmed 64 homes were destroyed in last week’s bush fires across northern NSW.

NSW RFS Building Impact Assessment Teams have now completed the bulk of inspections of fire affected areas.

Over the past week, these teams have conducted more than 1000 surveys of homes, buildings and facilities in the area directly impacted by fires.

The assessments have found:

›   64 homes destroyed, 23 damaged

›   7 facilities destroyed, 9 damaged

›   153 outbuildings destroyed, 70 damaged

›   329 homes in the direct area impacted by the fire saved

Of those homes destroyed, 44 were at the Busbys Flat fire.

Nineteen were due to the Long Gully Road fire, and in addition to 24 which were destroyed by the same fire in September. Tragically, two lives were also lost in this fire last week.

One home was destroyed at the Purgatory Creek fire near the Gwydir Highway at Jackadgery last week.

Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said so far this season, there has been more than 5000 bush and grass fires across NSW, which have burnt through more than a million hectares of land.

“We have seen large and destructive fires take an enormous toll on lives, farms, businesses, homes and communities in recent weeks and months, with a loss of 108 homes already this season.

“And while each one of the properties destroyed is a tragedy for those impacted, more than 1200 homes in the direct area of these fires have been saved due to the hard work of firefighters, landholders and residents.

“It’s important to remember that this is no ordinary bush fire season and we can’t afford to have anyone think this is just another year.

“The crippling effects of the drought, unseasonably warm weather and strong winds have seen fires develop quickly and impacted on lives, farms, businesses, homes and communities.

“There will be more fires this season and there’s a high likelihood of more homes being destroyed – so now is the time to get ready, make a plan, and have a conversation with your family.”

Visit www.myfireplan.com.au for advice on making your bush fire survival plan and preparing your property.

NSW Liberal-Nationals Government to forbid planning agencies to consider potential impacts of climate change

Nature Conservation Council of NSW, media release, 22 October 2019: 

Planning changes deny our biggest challenge – climate change

The Nature Conservation Council condemns the NSW Government’s plans to forbid planning authorities considering the full climate impacts of coal mines and gas projects.

“The government is effectively banning planning bodies from considering the biggest environmental challenge of our age,” NCC Chief Executive Chris Gambian said. 

“The state government has cravenly capitulated to pressure from the Minerals Council, raising serious questions about who controls planning policy in NSW.

“Minister Rob Stokes announced a review into the Independent Planning Commission just days ago and has already undermined it with proposed legislation.

“For the past 12 years NSW has had a planning policy to consider the climate damage of coal produced in this state. 

“It is reckless and irresponsible to gut this policy when dangerous climate change is on our doorstep with fish kills and more extreme heatwaves and bushfires every summer.

“Courts and planning authorities have been trying to deal with climate change because the government has utterly failed. 

“Now the government is tying planning authorities’ hands and undermine the science-based, responsible decision making the people of NSW want.

“No wonder people are marching in the streets for urgent action on climate.” [my yellow highlighting]

Lock the Gate Alliance, 22 October 2019:

Berejiklian back down: NSW Government capitulates to coal lobby

A NSW Government proposal to prevent the Independent Planning Commission from considering downstream climate emissions when assessing mining projects is a terrible mistake that will be remembered by future generations, according to Lock the Gate Alliance. 

It is being reported the government will move to restrict the IPC from considering the effects of "scope 3" greenhouse gas pollution when considering coal mining projects, with new laws to be introduced to parliament this week.

Scope 3 emissions are the greenhouse emissions produced when coal is burned at its final destination. 

Lock the Gate NSW spokesperson Georgina Woods said the legislation would be remembered by future generations as a shameless capitulation to the coal lobby that would harm communities in NSW.

“The government is capitulating to mining industry pressure and winding back laws to address the most important strategic, economic and environmental challenge of our century," she said.

“This is a regressive and fatal mistake that will be remembered for generations.

"New South Wales is right now experiencing a severe and unprecedented bushfire season and one of the worst droughts on record due to climate change. There is so little time left to prevent the problem escalating beyond our control. 

“The public expects all responsible agencies to use the powers available to them to act to avoid harm to our communities and our environment. 

"This is absolutely the wrong move at the wrong time for the Berejiklian Government. A petty political act of vandalism against the urgent needs of their constituents, particularly those on the frontline of global heating in rural Australia.

"Instead of pretending we have no stake in global action on climate change, we need a plan that recognises that the Hunter region will need to adjust to declining coal use worldwide and to prepare our communities for the severe weather extremes that are bearing down on us."

BACKGROUND

The Guardian, 22 October 2019:

The New South Wales government has announced it will introduce legislation to try to stop planning authorities from blocking mine developments based on emissions from coal once it is burned.

The push is a response to the historic Rocky Hill verdict delivered by the NSW Land and Environment court earlier this year and comes just days after the government launched a review of the state’s Independent Planning Commission (IPC).

The utltra-absurd among the many politically absurd One Nation members is at it again.......

The Canberra Times, 21 October 2019:

The Bureau of Meteorology has again been accused by a One Nation senator of changing its data so it fits in with the narrative of climate change extremists.

The head of Australia's weather agency has fended off questions from One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts suggesting the bureau has changed data to fit a climate change narrative.

Senator Roberts has taken issue with a graph which he says can no longer be accessed on the Bureau of Meteorology's website, which had outlined the number of "very hot days" from 1920 to 2015.

"Firstly, I reject the premise of your overarching question," he said.

"The Bureau of Meteorology simply reports on the data which it observes.

"Integrity of our data is of the highest order and I stand absolutely, 100 per cent behind it."

It is possible Mr. Roberts has seen a graph based on BOM data but created by another agency or individual. A number of these graphs do exist on the Internet.

A perfect example of the interconnection between river and groundwater in time of climate change and drought

In times of water scaricity in New South Wales, right after the call for dams and more dams, comes the call to sink more bores to supply additional water.

Here is a clear example of why sinking more bores is not the answer to either drought or climate change, as rivers and grounwater are an interconnected system in which no water is 'additional' water.

It is only the same water constanting re-looping from the clouds to the surface to the aquifer to the surface to the clouds and back round again.

When we deplete river and groundwater through overuse not all of the water taken from streams,  rivers and underground aquifers is recoverable by those natural processes which produce rainfall.

Water NSW, media release, 18 October 2019:

Restrictions imposed on Maules Creek groundwater use

The NSW government has issued a temporary restriction on groundwater usage in the Maules Creek Groundwater Water Source upstream of Elfin Crossing.

The Temporary Water Restriction has been issued under section 324 of the Water Management Act and means that holders of an Aquifer Access Licence must not take water under that licence from the Upper Namoi Zone 11 Maules Creek Groundwater Source, upstream of Elfin Crossing.

This restriction will be in place from 18 October 2019 to 30 June 2020.

The restriction does not apply to;

• bores accessing groundwater under basic landholder rights, or
• for the purposes of testing metering equipment.

Due to the severe drought conditions, there has been no river flows at the Maules Creek Avoca East Gauge since March 2018 and the groundwater observation bore levels near Elfin Crossing for 2019 have been the lowest on record.

These low groundwater levels have impacted the ability to access groundwater for stock, domestic and basic landholder rights.

A series of pools adjacent to Elfin Crossing that support local habitat and maintain the natural ecosystem are also being impacted. The continued depletion of these pools has also led to a deterioration of water quality in Maules Creek, which is currently not fit for human consumption.

This temporary restriction will help to maintain the perennial pool levels in Maules Creek and the groundwater levels in the Maules Creek Groundwater Water Source upstream of Elfin Crossing.

For more information on the temporary restriction visit the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment announcement. 

Cartoons of the Week

Mark David

@cathywilcox1