When it comes to the beaches in Sydney, it's hard to know where to begin. Around 100 beaches spread around the harbor and along the coast. Here are four of them.

Bronte Beach

Bronte's sea pool offers a protected ocean swim and is regarded as one of the best in Sydney—and much like beach culture itself, it's free. The nearby parkland has spacious barbecue areas for family gatherings. On public holidays, the park becomes a sea of busy people as parties take place.

Balmoral

Balmoral, on the north shore's Middle Harbor near Taronga Zoo, has an air of peace. Life moves at a more leisurely pace here. If it's loudness and pride you're after, this isn't it. What Balmoral does have overall is impressive views. And its calmness makes it a great swimming spot for families.

Garie Beach

Located in the Royal National Park, 54 kilometers south of Sydney, Garie Beach is accessible through Garie Road and isn't one for beach-lovers without a car. The large beach is very impressive, though. It's well preserved and is the perfect spot for a relaxing day away from the city. The facilities are top-grade and there is a great fishing spot off the east-facing rocks.

North Narrabeen Beach

Having some of the best and most consistent surf, the beach attracts board lovers from all over Sydney. Surfers have no discomfort making the 25-kilometer trip north to get to the three-kilometer-long beach. The northern end of the vast beach is protected from the northeasterly winds and is a surfer's destination, while the rest of it is ideal for swimming.

The Dead Sea might be the most famous saline body in the world, but it’s by no means the only one. Here, we uncover some other salt lakes around the world.

Dead Sea

The most famous of the lot, the Dead Sea—also known as the Salt Sea—is a natural place to start. It’s technically not a sea at all, but a land salt lake. Its waters are mainly drawn from the Jordan River, and the high salinity (盐度) means no life can survive here, so don’t expect any colorful fish. However, much amusement results from the sea’s buoyancy (浮力): Bring some reading material to the waters and lie back—nature will do the rest.

Lake Assal

Surrounded by black volcano rocks, Lake Assal takes the title of being the lowest point in Africa. Vast salt fields mark its edges; the lake has long been at the centre of the area’s salt trade, on which the region’s African locals still rely. Though the area might not be suitable to live in, the waters are rich in minerals and related to health benefits.

Great Salt Lake

The biggest salt lake in the western hemisphere, and the one that gave Salt Lake City its name, the Great Salt Lake finds its home in northern Utah. What makes the lake well-known is not only the lake’s blue and green waters and white-sand beaches, but also Great Salt Lake State Park and Antelope Island State Park, both offering super hiking and biking trails, and great long views.

Don Juan Pond

Don Juan Pond might not win any prizes for its beauty—at four inches deep, it’s little more than a pond, but it is worth visiting. Its salinity content of almost 40 percent   makes it   one   of   the   saltiest   bodies   of   water   on   Earth, meaning it doesn’t freeze even when Antarctic temperatures drop to -50℃. And with suggestions that water in a similar form could exist on Mars, there’s more than one reason for scientists to study this fascinating dry, cold environment.

There have been fires in every Australian state, but New South Wales has been   hardest hit. Fires have torn through bushland (丛林地), wooded areas, and national parks. Some start and are controlled in a few days, but the biggest fires have been burning for months.

Each year there is a fire season during the Australian summer, with hot, dry weather making it easy for fires to start and spread. Natural causes are responsible for fires most of the time, like lightning hits in drought-affected forests. Dry lightning was to blame for starting a number of fires in late December, which then traveled more than 20 kilometers in just five hours. Humans can also be responsible. Police have charged at least 24 people with starting bushfires on purpose, and have taken action against 183 people for setting fire since November.

Fire season in Australia is always dangerous -- the 2009 Black Saturday fires killed 173 people in Victoria, making it the deadliest bushfire disaster on record. But conditions have been unusually bad this year, making fires burn more strongly and making firefighting conditions particularly difficult. Australia is experiencing one of its worst droughts over the years. Meanwhile, a heatwave in December broke the record for highest nationwide average temperature, with some places under temperatures well above 40 degrees Celsius. Strong winds have also made the fires and smoke spread more rapidly, and have led to deaths.

About half a billion animals have been affected by the fires across NSW, with millions likely dead -- and that's lower than what is probably the real number. That number of total animals influenced could be as high as one billion nationwide. Almost a third of koalas in NSW may have been killed in the fires, and a third of the places where they live have been destroyed.

Some species, like koalas, aren't in any immediate danger of extinction because they are spread out across the country. But others that live in more suitable environments with lower populations, including certain types of frogs and birds, could be destroyed entirely if their home is hit by the fires.