This dreadful fire in South West Sydney is near the town of Thirlmere. Here's a little story about Thirlmere which may interest you. 
Thirlmere is home to the World Heritage-listed Thirlmere lakes, which formed 15 million years ago. Here's what they looked like from the air in 1983.
Thirlmere has lots of coal deposits. Until 1987, the nearby Tahmoor Colliery used bord and pillar style mining to extract the coal - which is (by coal mining standards) less disruptive to the surrounding environment. In 1987, they switched to the more-destructive longwall mining.
And the 15 million year old lakes mysteriously started to drain. Reports emerged that the mining operations were being disrupted by water gushing into the mine.
In the 1980s the Thirlmere Lakes were a favourite spot for water skiing and other lake-related fun.
But in the last thirty years, they have become a swamp. The waterline was once at the bottom step in the foreground here. It's now amongst the reeds at the bottom.
I wrote about the situation in the Thirlmere Lakes and the allegations made by locals that the mine had cracked the aquifer and drained the lake. abc.net.au/news/2015-06-1…
The following year experts at @CES_UNSW determined that the best explanation for what happened to the lakes was not climate change, but the longwall mining operation. ecosystem.unsw.edu.au/research-proje…
@CES_UNSW This is what the lakes look like now. Well, it's what they looked like before the bushfire disaster yesterday. I'm not sure what they look like today.
