• Two firefighters die battling blaze near Sydney, Australia

    Two Australian firefighters were killed and three others were injured while battling out-of-control blazes southwest of Sydney late Thursday, December 19, 2019, the New South Wales Rural Fire Service confirmed. The firemen's truck crashed into a tree then rolled…

  • Australia swelters through hottest day on record

    Australia has recorded its hottest average temperature across the whole country on Tuesday, December 17, 2019, at 40.9 °C (105 °F), beating the previous record of 40.3 °C (104 °F) set on January 7, 2013. Meteorologists are attributing a very strong…

  • Sydney chokes in smoke as Australia bushfires intensify, current period of poor air quality the ‘longest’ and ‘most widespread’ in the state’s history

    The air quality in Sydney, Australia continued to worsen on Tuesday, December 10, 2019, as roughly 100 bushfires burned in New South Wales (NSW) and strong north winds brought further smoke into the city. The haze was so thick in some areas that it was 11 times more…

  • Freezing start to summer as heavy snow blankets Australian Alps

    Unseasonal snow marked the first day of summer in parts of the Australian states of Victoria and New South Wales on December 1, 2019. On the following day, as much as 30 cm (12 inches) of snow fell in many parts of Victoria, blanketing the alps. Falls Creek and the…