Blazes ‘start of crisis for country’

THE bushfire crisis sweeping across Australia is only the beginning of what’s to come, a former firefighting boss has warned.

It comes after the World Meteorological Organisation found 2019 was the Earth’s second-hottest on record, and temperatures are creeping towards a globally agreed limit after which major changes to the Earth are expected. Former Fire and Rescue NSW deputy commissioner Ken Thompson says the developments are a terrifying sign of increasing catastrophe, especially after fires have laid waste to vast swathes of the country.

“We’re on a stepping stone to a different kind of normal, and that normal is going to be more catastrophe,” he said.

“All we can do now is reduce our emissions to the point where we can put a cap on it.”

Mr Thompson says he has witnessed a significant shift in the Australian people’s support for climate science at the same time as those denying it dig in their heels.

But he says the Federal Government’s position on climate change and its undermining of scientists is putting people in danger.

“You’ve got people who are very influenced by what politicians say, and what the media says, and if they’re being told things are OK and then they suddenly find themselves in the catastrophic conditions that we’re in now,” he said. “That’s a very stressful situation for people to be in.” Mr Thompson predicts a surge in frontline services personnel like police, firefighters and paramedics developing posttraumatic stress disorder due to increasingly confronting scenes. The average global temperature in 2019 was only 1.1C above pre-industrial levels, but its implications are massive both on the land and in the ocean.

Meanwhile, the NSW SES is warning much-needed rain and thunderstorms sweeping across the state could bring new risks as firefighters look to the wet weather to help douse the 80 NSW blazes still burning.

Bureau of Meteorology NSW forecaster Abrar Shabren said rain was expected across most of NSW from yesterday and could continue until Monday.

The NSW Blue Mountains suburb of Faulconbridge recorded the state’s highest rainfall in the 24 hours till yesterday with 45mm.

Bushfires burning near the Biriwal Bulga and Cottan-Bimbang national parks in the Mid North Coast region received some help from the rain.

WE’RE ON A STEPPING STONE TO A DIFFERENT KIND OF NORMAL, AND THAT NORMAL IS GOING TO BE MORE CATASTROPHE

KEN THOMPSON