Australia's rain relief from bushfires to end; hot weather likely this week

As of Monday, 59 bush and grass fires were burning throughout New South Wales state, 28 of which were yet not contained.

International News : A recent respite for Australian firefighters that brought rains and cooler weather is set to end, meteorologists warned on Monday, with hot conditions forecast for later this week raising a risk that blazes may start spreading again.

Australia experiences regular bushfires over summer, but this season's fires began early and have claimed 33 lives in the past four months, killed millions of animals and charred an area nearly the size of Greece.

More than a week of solid rain in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, the three states most affected by the fires, has more than halved the number of blazes, but above average temperatures were set to return by the weekend.

"Unfortunately, the reprieve may be short-lived with a blast of heat likely late this week in some areas," the New South Wales Bureau of Meteorology said on Twitter.

As of Monday, 59 bush and grass fires were burning throughout New South Wales state, 28 of which were yet not contained.

"More than 1,300 firefighters are using more favourable conditions to slow the spread of fires and strengthen containment lines, ahead of forecast increasing temperatures later in the week," the New South Wales Rural Fire Service said on Twitter.

Temperatures in Melbourne, where the Australian Open tennis tournament is in its second week, are forecast to reach 41 Celsius (105.8 Fahrenheit) on Friday.

Following are some highlights of what is happening in the bushfire crisis:

* Rainfall continued in Queensland, with some areas receiving nearly a sixth of their annual average in a 24-hour period on Monday.

* Australian authorities are yet to determine what caused a plane that carried three U.S. firefighters to crash last week in New South Wales.

* Wayne Coulson, chief operating officer of Coulson Group, the Canadian firm that owned the plane and employed its crew, said on Monday he flew to the crash site. "To see our aircraft on the ground, knowing we have had such loss of life was devastating," he said.

* One in two Australians have donated money to support bushfire relief efforts, a new survey showed over the weekend.

Bushfire anger burns down Australian PM Scott Morrison's approval ratings

The Newspoll survey showed 59 percent of Australian voters are dissatisfied with the conservative leader's performance overall, and only 37 percent were satisfied.

International News : Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison's approval ratings have nosedived as he faces widespread anger over his handling of the deadly bushfire crisis, according to a poll released Monday.

The Newspoll survey showed 59 percent of Australian voters are dissatisfied with the conservative leader's performance overall, and only 37 percent were satisfied, an abrupt reversal since his shock election win last May.

Morrison has been criticised heavily for his response to the months-long crisis -- which included going on holiday to Hawaii, making a series of gaffes and misleading statements about his government's actions, and forcing angry victims to shake his hand.

"The damage on Morrison's personal ratings amounts to an eight-point drop on approval to 37 percent and an eleven point rise on disapproval to 59 percent," wrote poll commentator William Bowe.

Morrison began the crisis insisting local authorities had enough resources to handle the fires and exhausted volunteers firefighters "want to be there".

He also repeatedly stated that Australia was doing more than enough to meet its emission reduction targets, prompting a series of large-scale street protests.

Seeing a backlash, Morrison has since deployed the military, launched the largest peacetime call up of reserves, pledged billions of dollars in aid, increased payments to firefighters, and suggested more work may need to be done on emissions.

The fires have killed at least 27 people, burned an area the size of South Korea, and shrouded Sydney in toxic smoke for weeks on end.

Morrison on Sunday acknowledged a groundswell of anger about the climate-fuelled fires.

The prime minister -- a staunch supporter of fossil fuel industries -- said emissions targets would "evolve" but ruled out curbing Australia's vast exports of coal.

"In the years ahead, we are going to continue to evolve our policy in this area to reduce emissions even further and we are going to do it without a carbon tax, without putting up electricity prices and without shutting down traditional industries," he told public broadcaster ABC.

10 things that reminded us in 2019 it was time we acted on climate change

Amazon wildfire, cyclones, hurricanes, water crisis and rising pollution were only some of the many natural and man-made disasters we face last year.

BS : The year 2019 was punctuated by a series of deadly, devastating natural and man-made disasters. Starting with fires ravaging California, the year ended with fires in Australia. Amazon wildfire, cyclones, hurricanes, water crisis and rising pollution bore bad tidings. All the catastrophes pointed to the climate crisis. But 2019 was also the year in which millions of people were galvanised into action. Even as some world leaders like US President Donald Trump dismissed 'climate change' as a conspiracy theory, the year's scorching temperatures and other disasters pushed students, activists, scientists and politicians to act.

Here are 10 events in 2019 that indicated it was high time the world acted against climate change

Australia's ongoing bushfire nightmare

Wildfires have turned southeast Australia into an apocalyptic nightmare and threatens to wipe out forests and species of animals. While bushfires are not new to Australia, the situation this time has been catastrophic because of record-breaking temperatures, extended drought and strong winds. The extreme heat follows the driest spring on record. On September 9, the historic getaway Binna Burra Lodge in Queensland was destroyed in the fire. On November 11, New South Wales issued a “catastrophic” fire danger rating for the first time in the decade. In December, thousands of residents and tourists were forced to evacuate southeastern Australia as bush fires razed scores of buildings. Military ships and aircraft were deployed. Around 12 million acres have been burnt by bushfires so far. Ecologists say about half a billion mammals, reptiles and birds have been killed since the fire started in September. They estimate that about 8,000 koalas have died since the fires started, as the slow-moving animals are unable to escape the flames.

The devastating bushfires confirmed what scientists have been saying for a while: Australia’s fires will become more intense as climate change worsens.

Amazon forest fire

In 2019, Brazil had more than 93,000 fire outbreaks, most of which were agricultural. Illegal land-grabbers also destroyed trees so they could raise the value of the property they seized. Amazon, which is also referred to as the 'lungs of the world', witnesses fire outbreaks every year. However, the fires in 2019 were more intense than in previous years — up more than 60 per cent from the same time the previous year, and the highest number since 2010.