New Scientist - USA (2019-12-07)

7 December 2019 | New Scientist | 7

BUSHFIRES across New South

Wales (NSW) have shrouded

Sydney in heavy smoke and left

residents breathing air pollution

on a par with that found in some

of the world’s most polluted cities.

About 2000 firefighters are

tackling more than a hundred fires

burning across the Australian

state, including in the Blue

Mountains world heritage area

and near Warragamba Dam,

authorities said on Tuesday.

In total, 800,000 hectares have

burned in NSW national parks

since July, including 20 per cent

of the famous mountain range,

a Guardian analysis has found.

The bushfires have been

aggravated by warm, dry

conditions linked to climate

change. Thomas Smith at the

London School of Economics says

it is unusual to see the fires so

early. “You normally don’t see

these fires until January or

February,” he says

Videos show Sydney blanketed

in pollution, with local monitoring

rating the air as “hazardous”.

Levels of tiny particulate

pollution, known as PM2.5, are

similar to levels in Delhi, India,

which recently had severe smog.

Satellites have recorded plumes

of smoke from bushfires in NSW,

Queensland and Victoria crossing

the Pacific Ocean, with some

reaching as far as South America.

On Tuesday, the World

Meteorological Organization

announced that the past decade,

including 2019, has almost

certainly been the warmest

on record. Global average

temperatures in 2019 were 1.1°C

above pre-industrial levels, close

to the 1.5°C that the Paris climate

deal agreed to limit rises to.

There is little hope that the

goal will be met. Figures published

by the Global Carbon Project

on Wednesday show that global

carbon emissions are set to rise

0.6 per cent this year, a slowdown

on recent years due to a dip in coal

use, but still far from the cuts that

the UN has said are needed to

avert catastrophic warming. ❚

As fires continue to burn in Australia, an analysis predicts that linked

global carbon emissions have risen further, reports Adam Vaughan

Space exploration

NASA spies India’s

lunar wreckage

A LOST moon lander has

been found. After it crashed

down in an attempted

landing in September, the

location of the remains of

India’s Vikram spacecraft

wasn’t immediately obvious.

Now, NASA has pinpointed

the debris field with the help

of a tip from a member of

the public, after the team at

the Lunar Reconnaissance

Orbiter (LRO) made images

of the area available online.

“Shanmuga Subramanian

contacted the LRO project

with a positive identification

of debris,” said a statement

released on 2 December.

NASA confirmed the spot

on the moon where the

Vikram lander crashed down

by comparing before and

after photos. The debris

Subramanian spotted was

750 metres north-west of

the crash site. The LRO team

went on to identify about

20 other pieces of debris

and several impact sites.

The Vikram lander was

part of the Chandrayaan-

mission, which launched

on 22 July and carried with

it a six-wheeled rover.

It was meant to touch down

and explore the south pole,

an unexplored region of

the moon where water ice

collects in craters covered

in shadow.

When the lander was

just 2.1 kilometres from

the lunar surface, it lost

communication with

scientists from the

Indian Space Research

Organisation and was

unable to slow down enough

for its planned landing. ❚

Chelsea Whyte

Bushfires rage on

News

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Smoke from a fire burning

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