Sunday Morning in Canberra - 5/1/2020. On New Year's Day Air quality reached more than 22 times the hazardous rating and smoke could be seen in New Zealand and South America Dear friends, as you have probably seen and heard, it hasn’t been a Happy New Year here. I have been meaning to finish that bit about New Zealand, but we all seem to be in a state of suspended animation since Christmas and it’s hard to focus while the country burns. Although Tasmania has been largely spared so far - only two major fires, and our peak fire season tends to be later, all eyes have been on the mainland where 6,300,000 hectares have already been burnt. Day after day we have watched scenes of devastation and the fires have cast a pall not only over the festive season, but the whole summer, indeed all of our summers. Summer used to be a time we eagerly looked forward to – beaches, barbecues, family and friends and the shedding of winter woollies, but now it has become a ...
Practising Geographer - nature culture places people