Crops and trees struggling in the heat down under

[Mike T]

There has been a persistent drought almost nationwide in Australia during 2019.Farmers are struggling, water is getting low in many places and people are losing more than just fruit trees in their gardens. It would be nice if 2020 bring widespread good falls.My best wishes go out to Australian growers and gardeners suffering with heat,drought and fires.
http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/awap/rain/index.jsp?colour=colour&time=latest&step=0&map=drought&period=6month&area=nat
The crazy heatwaves have seen exceptionally high temperatures over millions of square kilometres and records are being set all over the place. A new average maximum temperature for the whole country for a single day was set at 41.9c yesterday. Tree crops have suffered very badly.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-20/finger-pointed-at-climate-change-as-heatwave-smashes-records/11817884
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-20/victoria-to-set-new-hot-weather-record/11815860
There have been catastrophic fire emergencies in most states with many farms in NSW burning. The extent of severe fire conditions has been more widespread than anything seen before.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-20/nsw-bushfire-catastrophic-fire-danger-forecast-for-saturday/11818896

In Australia we are seeing headlines about heat, drought and fires all the time lately and the above stories are just a few I grabbed quickly. People here are commenting on the extremes of weather experienced lately. I am wondering how many fruit growers have experienced extreme weather in recent times.It seems to be almost normal to have extreme weather.

[Mike T]

http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/awap/temp/index.jsp?colour=colour&time=latest&step=0&map=maxextrm%2Fhi&period=week&area=nat
Above is a link to maximum temps in the lest week.

[Frog Valley Farm]

It looks very very scary for a whole lot of people and wildlife.  They do run some headlines here about the fires but not too much. I hope 2020 brings relief from the heat, fire and drought for all of Australia.  Merry Christmas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w04zoxdj65s

[fruitlovers]

There was mention here of fires getting close to Sydney a few days ago, but now hardly hear anything about the fires in Australia. The media here is almost completely obsessed with the impeachment, and hardly anything else matters.
Is your area safe from fires? Hope so! Best of luck to all of Australia!

[Mike T]

NSW, South Australia, Victorian and south-eastern Queensland have the most serious fires at the moment with the southern half of Australia most threatened.https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2019/dec/20/nsw-fires-near-sydney-melbourne-wa-western-south-australia-weather-forecast-victoria-qld-bushfires-catastrophic-extreme-heatwave-latest-news-live-updates
https://myfirewatch.landgate.wa.gov.au/

[gnappi]

I hope your rains fall sooner than later.

It's sad with all of this global warming discussion, places here in the U.S. are literally awash with excess rain water and we dump many millions of gallons of rainwater into the ocean to prevent flooding rather than formulate plans moving and using it where it's needed, like our west coast. 

Expensive? Sure but our bridges and much of the (aging) infrastructure today are nearing a hundred years old and were made when taxes were very low or even nonexistent. Maybe it's time we put the brakes on expanding (note NOT stop for the lefties out there) social programs and focus on new infrastructure for just a while?

[Frog Valley Farm]

You don’t have to look far to see our problem here is ignorance.  We know how to hold the water in the soil naturally but unlike Australia which seems way ahead of us, very little is done about it here.  Whether someone believes in science or not it is at least worth trying to see if it will make a difference.  We all have a choice.  Some action would be worth a try for us, our neighbors and the earth.

[spaugh]

I hope your rains fall sooner than later.

It's sad with all of this global warming discussion, places here in the U.S. are literally awash with excess rain water and we dump many millions of gallons of rainwater into the ocean to prevent flooding rather than formulate plans moving and using it where it's needed, like our west coast. 

Expensive? Sure but our bridges and much of the (aging) infrastructure today are nearing a hundred years old and were made when taxes were very low or even nonexistent. Maybe it's time we put the brakes on expanding (note NOT stop for the lefties out there) social programs and focus on new infrastructure for just a while?

Sorry to make this political but how about not blowing a trillion dollars blowing things up in Afghanistan for 20 years.  What a waste of resources. 

Theres all kinds of things that could be done with that kind of money right here at home.

Mike we have the extreme heat and drought and fires in california every year.  It sucks.  Not sure what else to tell you. Just be safe and make sure you have a proper fire break and plan in place in case your area is prone to wildfire.  Ive seen some really good roof mounted sprinkler systems in Australia.  Theres a couple good videos of them on youtube.  Theres a wildfire raging outside in one video.  Eucalyptus are burning not far away and the people are filming from inside the house.  Their roof top sprinkler system is running and saves the house.   

[Mike T]

My area is not so prone to fires being high rainfall and having rainforest surrounds.The erratic nature of rain is really pronounced lately in my area all the same.December averages about 8 inches of rain but last December had 40 and this December so far has had less than 3.
The water issue with droughts causes much competition for water with farmers, industry mining and towns at odds.The water allocation methods and river plans are heavily criticised.Dryland broadacre cotton in particular comes in for heavy criticism over the allocation and how it reduces environmental flows.

[pineislander]

Ive seen some really good roof mounted sprinkler systems in Australia.  Theres a couple good videos of them on youtube.  Theres a wildfire raging outside in one video.  Eucalyptus are burning not far away and the people are filming from inside the house.  Their roof top sprinkler system is running and saves the house.

I went looking for that video but did find the deluge system:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhc284uzTVQ

[spaugh]

Ive seen some really good roof mounted sprinkler systems in Australia.  Theres a couple good videos of them on youtube.  Theres a wildfire raging outside in one video.  Eucalyptus are burning not far away and the people are filming from inside the house.  Their roof top sprinkler system is running and saves the house.

I went looking for that video but did find the deluge system:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhc284uzTVQ

They had finished the install 6 days prior.  When your fire alarm goes off and you see flames all around you know things are about to get real. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kj7mz_-xDng&feature=youtu.be

[echinopora]

The fires are getting so much attention because wet areas are burning. The closest fires to us are mount Nardi and mount barney. Mount Nardi typically gets 6-7 feet of rain a year. It isn’t a dry adapted eucalypt forest, it’s a sub tropical rainforest. The fire effected area on the east coast streches from batemans bay in the south to the Sunshine Coast in the north. The distance, rainfall and climate are more akin to the stretch of the east coast from the keys to myrtle beach. Most of Australia is dry and fire is just a part of life. These fires are in that little green bit on the right hand side where we are usually more worried about whether the water on the road is deep enough to go over the bonnet (hood). Except for mike t, he also has to worry about the 4m salty waiting for him when his engine floods and he has to swim for it.

[zands]

Lots of rain here the past three days here is SE Florida/ It is raining right now.
Even the hot shots in Oz are being impacted by drought.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-7816263/Chris-Hemsworths-new-1million-garden-requires-trucks-water.html

Chris Hemsworth and his wife Elsa Pataky have raised eyebrows after 'a fleet of water trucks' arrived at their $20million mega-mansion.

The trucks have reportedly been arriving to tend to a garden worth $1million at their new home in Broken Head near Byron Bay - as Australia battles through intense drought and harsh water restrictions in much of New South Wales.

A macadamia nut farmer estimated water costs would set the Hollywood power couple back 'millions of dollars'.


'I've seen his gardens - it's a green, lush oasis in there,' the farmer added.

Byron Shire is under level one water restrictions as of December 7, which comes with a range of rules for urban and rural residents.

The restrictions bar people from using irrigations systems for more than 15 minutes a day and lawns and gardens can only be watered for one hour a day.

Chris, 36, and Elsa, 43, have also however been doing their part to support local firefighters.