After 'Devastating' Wildfire Season, All Fires in Australia’s New South Wales are Now Contained

After a "devastating" wildfire season, all of the bushfires in Australia's most populous state of New South Wales (NSW) are now contained.
NSW was the state hardest hit by Australia's historic fire season, according to BBC News. Fires across the country killed at least 33 people and more than a billion animals, torched thousands of homes and impacted an area roughly the size of England.
"After what's been a truly devastating fire season for both firefighters and residents who suffered through so much this season, all fires are now contained in New South Wales, which is great news," NSW Rural Fire Service Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers said Thursday in a video reported by NPR.
In what has been a very traumatic, exhausting and anxious bush fire season so far, for the first time this season a… https://t.co/9548toqxrA— NSW RFS (@NSW RFS)1581575347.0
The climate crisis has made Australia's naturally occurring fire season more extreme, as record temperatures combined with an extended drought to fan the flames. In NSW alone, fires destroyed more than 2,400 homes and burned 13.3 million acres of land, NPR reported.
But the heavy rain that has helped to finally douse the flames may also have been supercharged by climate change. An Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) study published in 2017 found that the climate crisis was already making both drought and flooding more likely in the Pacific.
Sydney experienced its heaviest rainfall in 30 years this week, BBC News reported Monday. On Thursday, dams near the city began to overflow, AFP reported.
The wild weather has delivered a rare sight in Sydney; an overflowing spillway. The Nepean Dam is over capacity as… https://t.co/FAgRg8REio— 7NEWS Sydney (@7NEWS Sydney)1581580187.0
Flash flooding in Queensland reportedly led to the death of one 75-year-old man, according to BBC News. And NSW State Emergency Services answered 2,500 calls for help because of rain in a 24-hour period, NPR reported.
The rains are expected to continue over the weekend, with more storms forecast to hit NSW and Queensland.
"Any showers and thunderstorms that do develop are falling on already saturated catchments, so there is a risk with severe thunderstorms of flash flooding," senior BOM meteorologist Grace Legge told AFP.
However, for many the rains are welcome. They extinguished the Currowan and Gospers Mountain fires, which burned about 500,000 hectares each, according to BBC News. The rain also finally snuffed out the Lindfield Park Road Fire, which had burned for 210 days.
The good news just keeps rolling in! The Lindfield Park Road Fire, which has been burning in the Port Macquarie reg… https://t.co/gGlJBbcKaj— NSW RFS (@NSW RFS)1581467138.0
The rain has also been a boon to agriculture. 2019 was the driest year in 101 years for the Hunter Valley, an important wine region. One winemaker said that the six inches of rain that fell during the week's downpour were enough to refill their vineyard's dams, The New York Times reported.
Fires in Victoria are still burning, but in other parts of the state, nature is starting to recover. Parks Victoria tweeted images of green shoots poking up through fire-blackened landscapes Thursday.
Green shoots provide hope. Parks across East Gippsland and North East Victoria have been seriously affected by fire… https://t.co/4Ia5PDZm1l— Parks Victoria (@Parks Victoria)1581569177.0
"This fire season has burnt more rainforest – which does not recover well from fire - than any fire in recent memory," Parks Victoria wrote. "Therefore, all remaining vegetation now takes on extra significance and we must take care of the precious remnants that we still have."
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From Greta Thunberg to Sir David Attenborough, the headline-grabbing climate change activists and environmentalists of today are predominantly white. But like many areas of society, those whose voices are heard most often are not necessarily representative of the whole.
1. Wangari Maathai
<p>In 2004, Professor Maathai made history as the <a href="https://www.nobelpeaceprize.org/Prize-winners/Prizewinner-documentation/Wangari-Maathai" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">first African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize</a> for her dedication to sustainable development, democracy and peace. She started the <a href="http://www.greenbeltmovement.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Green Belt Movement</a>, a community-based tree planting initiative that aims to reduce poverty and encourage conservation, in 1977. More than 51 million trees have been planted helping build climate resilience and empower communities, especially women and girls. Her environmental work is celebrated every year on <a href="http://www.greenbeltmovement.org/node/955" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wangari Maathai Day on 3 March</a>.</p>2. Robert Bullard
<p>Known as the 'father of environmental justice,' Dr Bullard has <a href="https://www.unep.org/championsofearth/laureates/2020/robert-bullard" target="_blank">campaigned against harmful waste</a> being dumped in predominantly Black neighborhoods in the southern states of the U.S. since the 1970s. His first book, Dumping in Dixie, highlighted the link between systemic racism and environmental oppression, showing how the descendants of slaves were exposed to higher-than-average levels of pollutants. In 1994, his work led to the signing of the <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/albert-huang/20th-anniversary-president-clintons-executive-order-12898-environmental-justice" target="_blank">Executive Order on Environmental Justice</a>, which the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/27/executive-order-on-tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad/" target="_blank">Biden administration is building on</a>.<br></p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7983f54726debdd824f97f9ad3bdbb87"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T_VjSGk8s18?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
Pollution has a race problem. Elizabethwarren.com
3. John Francis
<p>Helping the clean-up operation after an oil spill in San Francisco Bay in January 1971 inspired Francis to <a href="https://planetwalk.org/about-john/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">stop taking motorized transport</a>. Instead, for 22 years, he walked everywhere. He also took a vow of silence that lasted 17 years, so he could listen to others. He has walked the width of the U.S. and sailed and walked through South America, earning the nickname "Planetwalker," and raising awareness of how interconnected people are with the environment.</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="09b968e0e9964e31406954dcea45981d"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vgQjL23_FoU?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
4. Dr. Warren Washington
<p>A meteorology and climate pioneer, Dr. Washington was one of the first people to develop atmospheric computer models in the 1960s, which have helped scientists understand climate change. These models now also incorporate the oceans and sea ice, surface water and vegetation. In 2007, the <a href="https://www.cgd.ucar.edu/pcm/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Parallel Climate Model (PCM)</a> and <a href="https://www.cesm.ucar.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Community Earth System Model (CESM)</a>, earned Dr. Washington and his colleagues the <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2007/summary/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nobel Peace Prize</a>, as part of the <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a>.</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="09fbf6dc37f275f438a0d53ec0fe1874"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bvJ4jTy2mTk?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
5. Angelou Ezeilo
<p>Huge trees and hikes to pick berries during her childhood in upstate New York inspired Ezeilo to become an environmentalist and set up the <a href="https://gyfoundation.org/staff/Angelou-Ezeilo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Greening Youth Foundation</a>, to educate future generations about the importance of preservation. Through its schools program and Youth Conservation Corps, the social enterprise provides access to nature to disadvantaged children and young people in the U.S. and West Africa. In 2019, Ezeilo published her book <em>Engage, Connect, Protect: Empowering Diverse Youth as Environmental Leaders</em>, co-written by her Pulitzer Prize-winning brother Nick Chiles.</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ce4547d4e5c0b9ad2927f19fd75bf4ab"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YojKMfUvJMs?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
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