Climate

The dunes at our local beach are gradually but steadily being eroded. This is entirely consistent with what is expected due to rising sea levels associated with climate change. The causes are melting ice from glaciers and ice caps, plus expansion of the ocean water as its temperature rises. As explained in this link, ocean levels have risen by about 25cm since 1880 and the rate has increased to about 3cm a decade now. No wonder the people on low-lying islands are concerned!

[NOTES UPDATED] The record-breaking 2019-2020 bushfires in eastern Australia burnt an estimated 17 million hectares (5.3 million in the State of NSW where I live). New Years' Eve was totally forgettable, as a wind change rolled up the coast, moving the smoke and ash from the fires directly across us. This is how the colour looked at the time, with the daylight filtered red by the smoke.

The scene as the New Year's Eve fires headed toward Batemans Bay. At this stage we were fortunate, as the fire seen here went to the opposite side of the Bay. There have been further rounds of fire weather, which fortunately did not directly impact our area, though we considered it prudent on one of them to move to the local Evacuation Centre. It is concerning that scientists expect that, with the global temperature rise of already 1.02 C (Australia 1.44 C since 1910) , events that were once a decade in the 19th century are now more likely to be as frequent as 2.8 per decade.

Taken near our home. The foreground lighting from the street lamp behind me, the red glow from the nearby bushfire (at this stage about 8km away and being held back by fire crews). The morning after this image, as suggested by the Rural Fire Brigade, we left with some of our possessions as there is a risk the only access road could be cut by fire. We are now safe, but over the next few days are hoping to make a quick return visit to retrieve more items to safety in case the fire should come through - it is still out of control and over 73,000 ha at present (see PiP). I shall be very infrequent on ipernity, but would like to extend my very real appreciation to all who have sent their messages of support for me and my wife. In these worrying times, believe me it does help. :-)

Back again after a "post Covid lockdown" trip to visit friends and family (restrictions just lifted). I must admit that photography was far from the main priority, so fairly few photos - and then I inadvertently lost some shots when I returned home today. It was very sobering though, that so many hundreds of kilometres of the trip were through burnt forest such as you see here, from the late 2019/early 2020 fires. At least this area is regrowing (if very slowly), so I feel comfortable in posting it for the Happy Fence Friday. Have a safe and enjoyable weekend and a HFF everyone.

Copied from an old 1966 slide. Previously posted some years ago, now with a better quality image. View large on black. The Bureau of Meteorology had asked us to look for these colourful thin clouds and, in August, we were surprised and delighted to see them behind the meteorological office. They are Nacreous Clouds, also known as "Mother of Pearl" clouds because of their colours or, more currently, as "Polar Stratospheric Clouds". They are made of ice crystals (which give their colour), are about 20-25 km high, and form when temperatures there drop below -80 C. They had always been considered quite rare and I believe our sighting was one of the earliest confirmed at Mawson in Antarctica. There have been very numerous sightings since, significantly becoming as late as October, because of climate change effects. Ozone normally forms in the early spring in the polar stratosphere and absorbs ultraviolet radiation as the sun returns, in the process warming the stratosphere. In the 1970s it was found that Chlorofluorocarbon gases (once used in spray cans and old refrigerators) mix through the atmosphere and break up the newly formed ozone, causing the polar stratosphere to remain colder in spring. This is the "ozone hole". Although chlorofluorocarbon gas use has (largely) been banned, it will take years for the gases already released to break down, for the ozone hole to heal totally, and for the stratosphere to return to normal. Yes, this is relevant to climate change: see this link.