SYDNEY: Australia’s southeast on Sunday sweltered in a heat wave that raised the risk of bushfires and led authorities to issue fire bans for large swathes of New South Wales state.
The nation’s weather forecaster said temperatures would be up to 12 degrees Celsius (53.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above average in some areas, with Sydney, the capital of Australia’s most populous state New South Wales, set to hit 36 C (96.8 F).
At Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport, the temperature was 34.6 C (94.3 F) at 2 p.m. (0300 GMT), more than 11 degrees above the October mean maximum temperature, according to forecaster data.
Australia faces a high-risk bushfire season following the onset of an El Nino weather event, recently announced, which is typically associated with extreme events such as wildfires, cyclones and droughts.
State Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib announced the start of an official bushfire danger period, with the “scorching” heat lifting the risk for the week ahead.
“Not only is it hot, it’s dry and it’s windy and those conditions combined are the perfect storm,” Dib said.
Fire authorities on Sunday issued nine total fire bans for parts of the state to reduce the chance of bushfires.
Further south in Victoria state, authorities issued an emergency evacuation order for a rural area in the Gippsland region, about 320 kilometers (198 miles) east of the state capital Melbourne, due to an out-of-control bushfire.
Australia’s last two fire seasons have been quiet compared with the catastrophic 2019-2020 “Black Summer” of bushfires that destroyed an area the size of Turkiye and killed 33 people. In Sydney, local resident Sandy Chapman said she was worried about the mix of extreme heat and wind.
“It doesn’t take long to start a fire and have it burning and it’s very scary,” Chapman said.
Sydneysider Katie Kell hoped there would be no repeat of bushfires on the same scale as 2019-20.
“I don’t know, with how hot it’s been since the start of spring, I’m not too confident,” Kell said.
Australia swelters through ‘scorching’ heat lifting bushfire risk
https://arab.news/b7k69
Australia swelters through ‘scorching’ heat lifting bushfire risk
- Australia faces a high-risk bushfire season following the onset of an El Nino weather event
- Australia’s last two fire seasons have been quiet compared with the catastrophic 2019-2020 ‘Black Summer’ of bushfires
Japan restarts world’s biggest nuclear plant
- Japan wants to revive atomic energy to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels
KARIWA: The world’s biggest nuclear power plant was restarted Wednesday for the first time since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, its Japanese operator said, despite persistent safety concerns among residents.
The plant was “started at 19:02” (1002 GMT), Tokyo Electric Power Company spokesman Tatsuya Matoba said of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata prefecture.
The regional governor approved the resumption last month, although public opinion remains sharply divided.
On Tuesday, a few dozen protesters — mostly elderly — braved freezing temperatures to demonstrate in the snow near the plant’s entrance, whose buildings line the Sea of Japan coast.
“It’s Tokyo’s electricity that is produced in Kashiwazaki, so why should the people here be put at risk? That makes no sense,” Yumiko Abe, a 73-year-old resident, told AFP.
Around 60 percent of residents oppose the restart, while 37 percent support it, according to a survey conducted in September.
TEPCO said Wednesday it would “proceed with careful verification of each plant facility’s integrity” and address any issues appropriately and transparently.
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is the world’s biggest nuclear power plant by potential capacity, although just one reactor of seven was restarted.
The facility was taken offline when Japan pulled the plug on nuclear power after a colossal earthquake and tsunami sent three reactors at the Fukushima atomic plant into meltdown in 2011.
However, resource-poor Japan now wants to revive atomic energy to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and meet growing energy needs from artificial intelligence.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has voiced support for the energy source.
Fourteen reactors, mostly in western and southern Japan, have resumed operation since the post-Fukushima shutdown under strict safety rules, with 13 running as of mid-January. The vast Kashiwazaki-Kariwa complex has been fitted with a 15-meter-high (50-foot) tsunami wall, elevated emergency power systems and other safety upgrades.
However, residents raised concerns about the risk of a serious accident, citing frequent cover-up scandals, minor accidents and evacuation plans they say are inadequate.
