Army helicopters have been used to evacuate dozens of people from the fierce fire threat in Victoria, where more than 100 homes have been razed and towns remain at risk tonight.

• About 50 people were flown out of Omeo as fire menaced the town
• Communities in the state's north-east are facing a night of dangerous bushfire conditions
• For the latest information, visit the Vic Emergency website

Strong winds are continuing to push fires towards communities in Victoria's north-east and East Gippsland, where six people remain missing.

Authorities said at least 110 properties and 220 outbuildings had been lost — but the full scale of the damage is not yet known after thousands of people fled threatened communities.

"Our biggest concern at the moment is very significant fire activity in the north-east of the state," Premier Daniel Andrews said this evening. 

"We have about 1,000 firefighters on the fire ground, we are by no means out of this."

In the East Gippsland town of Omeo, residents have described seeing the sky turn red, and then black, as a fire front hit.

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-04/bushfires-hit-east-gippsland-town...

See all warnings on this site about global warming from 2005 onwards... including the very recent:

if I say shake my bloody hand, shake my bloody hand before I turn away...

the hottest place on earth... in the murdoch crew : the vampires who feed on garlic bread and fake blood sausages...

global warming is anthropogenic... in science is brutal... and of the birth of fake news and of the seasons...

If I was a religious bloke, which I am not, I would say that god is punishing people for having voted for Scott Morrison..."Fuck Scott Morrison", which was on the lip of some fire-fighters and on many posters around town, might show people are "fixated", BUT FOR A F%$#KEN GOOD REASON! Morrison and his minions (and the morons at the merde-och media) have done everything not to understand the dangers of global warming and instead have passed on the buck to the Greenies for "not allowing back-burning" — which of all excuses is the biggest furphy on the planet at the moment...

Meanwhile, if our idiots in charge could find some balls in their underpants (hard tits for the ladies working for Scumdungdogdooson) they could also argue officially for the release of Julian Assange from prison. This would count as half a Hail Mary against their sins...

See also:

and plenty more...

especially:

http://www.yourdemocracy.net.au/drupal/node/33287

Scott Morrison criticised for running 'absolutely obscene' political ads during bushfires

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been lambasted for releasing videos on social media advertising his Government's response to the country's current bushfire crisis. 

• The Morrison Government announced a raft of military assistance to bushfire affected areas 
• His Government's bushfire response was summarised in a video posted late on Saturday
• Australia's defence watchdog says the video breaches the defence force's impartiality 

Earlier on Saturday, Mr Morrison announced a raft of assistance measures in response to Australia's deadly fire crisis, including the deployment of 3,000 Australian Defence Force (ADF) reservists and Royal Australian Air Force and Navy craft for rescue efforts. 

The Commonwealth has also set aside a further $20 million to lease four additional firefighting aircraft, while ADF bases in Brisbane and Adelaide will be made available for emergency short-term accommodation. 

Since September, 23 people have died in bushfires across the country, with two people on Kangaroo Island becoming the latest victims overnight. 

To date, the fires have burned more than six million hectares of land — a number greater than Brazil's 2019 Amazon fires and 2018's California wildfires combined. 

Around the country, there are also grave fears for various species of vulnerable Indigenous flora and fauna caught in the fire path.

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-05/scott-morrison-criticised-for-pol...

Read from top.

Time for the advertising man, Scumkiddlesmokesalmonson, to take his crayolas and retire his clown self into a kindergarten somewhere. 

$15 million can buy you a star-studded advertising campaign, but as Tourism Australia has learned, it can't give you control over the timing of natural disasters.

• The 'Matesong' campaign rolled out on Christmas Day, encouraging would-be UK tourists to visit their 'mates' down under
• But the idyllic lifestyle depicted in the ad was at odds with scenes of bushfire devastation
• Tourism Australia has confirmed parts of the campaign will be paused while the bushfire situation continues

The advertising body has "paused" parts of its 'Matesong' campaign amid the devastation of Australia's bushfire crisis, scenes of which have been broadcast to horrified onlookers around the world.

The ad campaign was broadcast to British audiences immediately before the Queen's speech on Christmas Day, and was headed by singer Kylie Minogue.

The multi-million dollar video encouraged UK viewers, fed up with Brexit negotiations, to "turn off the news" and escape to Australia for a trip to the beach or a game of backyard cricket.

But concerns emerged almost immediately that the easy-going lifestyle depicted in the advertisement was at odds with scenes of bushfire carnage simultaneously airing on UK news channels.

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-05/fires-bushfires-tourism-australia...

Read from top. Free Assange.

Roger Federer has issued a cautiously worded response to mounting criticism, including from climate activist Greta Thunberg, over his sponsorship deal with Credit Suisse.

A dozen Swiss activists appeared in court on Tuesday after refusing to pay a fine for playing tennis inside branches of Credit Suisse bank in November 2018, in a stunt intended to underscore Federer’s relationship with the Swiss financial giant, which is closely linked with the fossil fuel industry.

They also held up banners reading: “Credit Suisse is destroying the planet. Roger, do you support them?” Lawyers for the activists, mostly students, said they were appealing the fine of £17,000 (21,600 Swiss francs / $AU32,000) on the basis they were acting as whistleblowers for the climate emergency. Protesters with signs gathered outside the courtroom in Lausanne, and the hashtag #RogerWakeUpNow has been trending on Twitter.

...

“As the father of four young children and a fervent supporter of universal education, I have a great deal of respect and admiration for the youth climate movement, and I am grateful to young climate activists for pushing us all to examine our behaviours and act on innovative solutions. We owe it to them and ourselves to listen. I appreciate reminders of my responsibility as a private individual, as an athlete and as an entrepreneur, and I’m committed to using this privileged position to dialogue on important issues with my sponsors.”

Credit Suisse recently stated it is “seeking to align its loan portfolios with the objectives of the Paris Agreement and has recently announced in the context of its global climate strategy that it will no longer invest in new coal-fired power plants”.

Federer will headline a fundraising exhibition at the Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday in aid of bushfire relief, alongside Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, Nick Kyrgios, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Naomi Osaka and Caroline Wozniacki.

Read more:

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/jan/12/roger-federer-responds-to-...

Drought in Australia: historic fall in agricultural production.

Some crops such as sorghum, cotton and rice are expected to drop 66%, the agriculture ministry warned.

By Le Figaro with AFP

Posted on February 18, 2020 at 10:44 pm, updated on February 18, 2020 at 10:45 pm

Australia's hottest and driest year on record has resulted in lower agricultural production, estimates released Tuesday. The Ministry of Agriculture has indicated that the production of crops such as sorghum, cotton and rice is expected to fall by 66%, the lowest level on record since the introduction of such statistics in 1980- 81.

Read also: Forest fires affected 75% of Australians, study finds

"It was the lowest summer agricultural production (recorded) over this period by far," said Peter Collins, an economist responsible for statistics at ABARES, a research agency of the Ministry of 'Agriculture. The heavy rains that fell in early February in Australia would have come too late to relieve farmers.

Several consecutive years of drought had already affected entire swaths of Australian agricultural land, but 2019 was worse than the previous years. Rainfall was lower than the historic low of 1902, and average temperatures were 0.2 degrees higher than in 2013, the hottest year on the huge island continent so far. The fall in summer agricultural production comes after a fall of about 5% in winter crops, especially wheat.

Read also: The keys to understanding the political consequences of the fires in Australia

Australia is one of the main agricultural producers in the world and this sector represents around 3% of its GDP. Climate change has contributed to the drought and worsened the fire season which, in five months, has destroyed more than 10,000 hectares of dryland in eastern and southern Australia, experts say.

Read more:

https://www.lefigaro.fr/conjoncture/secheresse-en-australie-chute-historique-de-la-production-agricole-20200218?

Translation by Jules Letambour...  Read from top.