https://www.thedailybeast.com/australias-heat-wave-is-torching-the-continent
[I have not seen this reported in mainstream media in Canada or the U.S.
links and images in online article]
Australia’s Heat Wave Is Torching the Continent
‘This sort of event has not happened in Australia this far north since
European settlement.’
Molly Enking
01.23.19 4:55 PM ET
On Wednesday, Rohan Smyth, a resident of Alice Springs in northern
Australia, posted photos on Facebook of about two dozen wild horses,
dead and decomposing in various stages, covered in dust and branches at
the bottom of a reservoir called “Deep Hole,” which residents say has
never been completely dried up before.
“The wild horses have gone down there looking for their water which is
normally there, and it's not been there, so essentially they just had
nowhere to go,” Smyth told ABC News.
Australia—which is in the midst of its summer—has been gripped by a
heatwave since November that continues to break records across the
country. According to the Guardian, the country recorded its hottest
December on record; five of the ten hottest days on record are from last
week. The extreme temperatures have killed bats on a “biblical scale,”
as well as over a million fish in a river in the southeastern region,
according to the Independent. The Australian government’s Bureau of
Meteorology blamed climate change for the heatwaves in their 2018 State
of the Climate report, and warned of “further increases in sea and air
temperatures, with more hot days and marine heatwaves.”
The Guardian reported that humans have not been immune to the long
heatwave, either, with dozens of patients checking in to hospitals with
heat-related conditions. Health officials have declared the heatwave a
threat to public safety, encouraging people to take precautions by
limiting time outdoors as much as possible to avoid sun exposure. The
extreme temperatures have also caused wildfire deaths, bush fires and an
increase in hospital admissions, according to the BBC.
“Anyone experiencing severe respiratory distress should seek immediate
medical help,” said Richard Broome, Director of Environmental Health in
New South Wales, in a statement. Broome said that high temperatures will
exacerbate air pollution, which is expected to get particularly bad in
Sydney. “Ozone can irritate the lungs, and that people with asthma need
to follow their Asthma Action Plan and have their relieving medication
with them,” he said.
Wild horses are not the only animals suffering from the heat wave. Since
November, hundreds of dead bats have been falling from the skies in and
around Sydney, their brains reportedly boiled by the extreme heat.
Nearly one-third the population of an endangered bat species have perished.
“This sort of event has not happened in Australia this far north since
European settlement,” Justin Welbergen, an ecologist and president of
the Australasian Bat Society, told the BBC.
A local Alice Springs resident, Ralph Turner, who was one of the people
to discover the horses commented, “It’s just terrible to know these
beautiful animals died this way.”
The death of these wild horses, “calls the community to wonder what
steps are our leaders taking to tackle the effects of climate change in
the future and what steps call we all take to prevent the suffering of
innocent animals across our country,” wrote Smyth.
The Australian Government’s Bureau of Meteorology said in their 2018
State of the Climate Report that the ocean surrounding Australia has
warmed by one degree celsius since 1910 and continues to warm,
contributing to longer and more frequent heat waves. Based on their
projections, Australia will continue to have less and less cold extremes
over the years, and more hot days, heatwaves and droughts.
Australia is a signee to the Paris climate agreement, though the
Guardian reported that it will miss its targets for lowering emissions.
