Australian bushfires

[aj1908]

4 minutes ago, Farmduck said:

So Penrith has hit 48°  It seems to have peaked at my place at 45.7°

Yeh 45.here in Burwood lol

Air con is good in the gym but

[Farmduck]

City people can be so stupid. This isn't from a bush fire. These were just grass fires. Look at the trees. Grass fires don't even generate enough heat to singe the leaves.

https://twitter.com/PercyKaren/status/1213299222469959685

[aj1908]

[ckn]

 

[Damien]

Just now, ckn said:

 

I'd love to believe that people have more sense than that.

[DavidM]

13 minutes ago, Damien said:

I'd love to believe that people have more sense than that.

No I’m afraid they really don’t . Common sense ain’t that common 

[Farmduck]

1 hour ago, Damien said:

I'd love to believe that people have more sense than that.

So would I but: 

"Dozens of fires continue to burn in the states of Queensland and New South Wales, where more than 50 people have been charged with arson since August. Another 150 suspects are being interviewed by investigators."

That article was on 29 Nov and we've had something like 200 separate fires in NSW alone since then. The usual cause is lightning but we haven't had any storms or clouds.

 

[Bedford Roughyed]

1 hour ago, Damien said:

I'd love to believe that people have more sense than that.

Arson will be a major cause, some accidental and some lightning.  

The climate deniers are pushing the arson aspect heavily right now (along with blaming the greens).  It isn't climate change that started the fires, therefore climate change isn't the problem.  

[graveyard johnny]

how long have "people" been living in these areas like decades wise? these places are thousands of years older than the time before "people settlers en mass" were there any problems back then before ron n shelia turned up with their bbq 4x4 and wooden shack? 

[Damien]

1 hour ago, graveyard johnny said:

how long have "people" been living in these areas like decades wise? these places are thousands of years older than the time before "people settlers en mass" were there any problems back then before ron n shelia turned up with their bbq 4x4 and wooden shack? 

I've seen various articles about how Aboriginal people managed the land and frequently burned patches of bush.

[graveyard johnny]

26 minutes ago, Damien said:

I've seen various articles about how Aboriginal people managed the land and frequently burned patches of bush.

now they have razors like the rest of us

[Copa]

9 hours ago, ckn said:

 

The climate changes resulting in drier and more vulnerable forests excites these people. Now their impact can be far greater. It’s horrendous.

Lightning has also caused quite a few fires.

[aj1908]

22 hours ago, Damien said:

I'd love to believe that people have more sense than that.

No already police had said some small ones were.deliberately lit 

[Damien]

3 minutes ago, aj1908 said:

No already police had said some small ones were.deliberately lit 

Oh I don't doubt that is the case, it always is. I'd just love to believe that people wouldn't be so stupid.

[aj1908]

16 hours ago, graveyard johnny said:

how long have "people" been living in these areas like decades wise? these places are thousands of years older than the time before "people settlers en mass" were there any problems back then before ron n shelia turned up with their bbq 4x4 and wooden shack? 

Yeh ages 

This season is the worst it's ever been though 

Once you are an hour out of Sydney it's all Bush for hours and hours on the coast 

When you fly to gold coast or Melbourne from Sydney on a plane all you see is trees for an hour 

[Copa]

It should be mentioned that in some parts of Australia volunteer firefighters can be as young as 16. 

Yes, there are probably 16 year old boys and girls helping out in the field during the current disaster. 

It’s also not unusual for blokes in their 70s to be part of these groups.

Volunteer firefighting groups train anything from once per week to once per fortnight. Everything from basic skills all the way to how to drop out of a hovering helicopter in a remote area.

If you join a volunteer firefighting group you will definitely have an interesting and fulfilling life.

Some even have junior brigades for 11-15 year olds. They train the kids, teach them firefighting etc. These kids aren’t sent to the frontline though! It’s a training club type of thing.

This is one of the volunteer firefighting bases in Canberra.

 

[Bedford Roughyed]

 

[Copa]

The 2008 Garnaut Climate Change Review (Australian)

 

 

[Bedford Roughyed]

1 minute ago, Copa said:

The 2008 Garnaut Climate Change Review (Australian)

 

 

It's almost like it was predictable, and things should be done to stop it happening?

[Copa]

2 hours ago, Bedford Roughyed said:

It's almost like it was predictable, and things should be done to stop it happening?

When I travel abroad I meet people with a wide range of political views, from hippy left to uber conservative and most seem to agree that global warming is influenced by humans. For them, across much of the political spectrum, it’s accepted fact. Their debates are often about how to slow it down for example harness market forces or massive government intervention etc.

In Australia, it’s still a debate about if it’s human influenced or even if global warming actually exists.

I doubt the current disaster will result in any substantial changes. Many will double down as they genuinely and sincerely feel the disaster justifies their own view of the world and discredits the other.

Australia exports huge amounts of coal and through that contributes significantly to global pollution. It also provides a good livelihood to many people and their families.

Sadly, massive coal exports also means we are essentially poisoning our own children’s futures. However, if we stop exporting coal, other countries with dirtier coal will probably make up the short fall. Added to that mining electorates can throw out PMs at elections.

With the rapid change in technology, and even the possibility of foreign consumer boycotts of countries indifferent to climate change, we are also leaving ourselves vulnerable and exposed by relying on exports like coal. Countries that import coal will switch as technologies changes and decreases in price.

So we are stuck in a bind in Australia and our inept politicians across our different parties have no idea how to move into the future. There are $billions to be made in the alternative energy fields and opportunities to diversify the economies of some regional parts of Australia but we’re not taking much action.

Politics here will just dawdle along with the same old arguments and their supporters pointing out petty hypocrisies (what a waste of a life telling people politicians are petty hypocrites), spreading false rumours or outright lies about political opponents. 

We may have some politicians who can lead us through this but I have no idea who they are or what party they are in.

 

[aj1908]

3 hours ago, Bedford Roughyed said:

 

He loses the impact.of.his message because of the political.dig.  if he was really interested in getting as many people as possible interested he would keep.the politics out of it

[aj1908]

2 hours ago, Copa said:

When I travel abroad I meet people with a wide range of political views, from hippy left to uber conservative and most seem to agree that global warming is influenced by humans. For them, across much of the political spectrum, it’s accepted fact. Their debates are often about how to slow it down for example harness market forces or massive government intervention etc.

In Australia, it’s still a debate about if it’s human influenced or even if global warming actually exists.

I doubt the current disaster will result in any substantial changes. Many will double down as they genuinely and sincerely feel the disaster justifies their own view of the world and discredits the other.

Australia exports huge amounts of coal and through that contributes significantly to global pollution. It also provides a good livelihood to many people and their families.

Sadly, massive coal exports also means we are essentially poisoning our own children’s futures. However, if we stop exporting coal, other countries with dirtier coal will probably make up the short fall. Added to that mining electorates can throw out PMs at elections.

With the rapid change in technology, and even the possibility of foreign consumer boycotts of countries indifferent to climate change, we are also leaving ourselves vulnerable and exposed by relying on exports like coal. Countries that import coal will switch as technologies changes and decreases in price.

So we are stuck in a bind in Australia and our inept politicians across our different parties have no idea how to move into the future. There are $billions to be made in the alternative energy fields and opportunities to diversify the economies of some regional parts of Australia but we’re not taking much action.

Politics here will just dawdle along with the same old arguments and their supporters pointing out petty hypocrisies (what a waste of a life telling people politicians are petty hypocrites), spreading false rumours or outright lies about political opponents. 

We may have some politicians who can lead us through this but I have no idea who they are or what party they are in.

 

Maybe those inept politicians know that its not economically viable for alternate power sources without significant governmemt subsidies 

Or maybe they realise that in terms of total co2 emissions Australia is fairly small and since the major polluters like India and China aren't doing much they would be at a competitive disadvantage to do so.

As much as the greenies hate technology I have faith that we will solve this problem in the future through science.

As long as coal is cheaper it will always be used as a power source over costlier options.

Nucleur seems a good option but I don't think the greenies approve 

[Copa]

1 hour ago, aj1908 said:

Maybe those inept politicians know that its not economically viable for alternate power sources without significant governmemt subsidies 

Or maybe they realise that in terms of total co2 emissions Australia is fairly small and since the major polluters like India and China aren't doing much they would be at a competitive disadvantage to do so.

As much as the greenies hate technology I have faith that we will solve this problem in the future through science.

As long as coal is cheaper it will always be used as a power source over costlier options.

The ACT is 100% renewable electricity now. It does not mean every electron we use comes from a solar farm but it means we pay to produce from renewable energy projects as much electricity as we use. People voted for a government that promised to introduce that. You get the source of power you request from your government.

Australia is a significant contributor to global pollution far beyond our small size. One third of global coal exports come from Australia. We are a huge player in the global pollution game. We are in the supply chain for a huge chunk of the planet’s pollution. Our economic dependence on that in these changing times is a weakness that will eventually  threaten our livelihood. I’ve commented on that bind above.

I’ve never met a greenie that hates technology. Most I’ve met embrace it and share your view about technology helping humanity.

There are plenty of greenie engineers and scientists. They’d really struggle without technology.

[aj1908]

4 hours ago, Copa said:

The ACT is 100% renewable electricity now. It does not mean every electron we use comes from a solar farm but it means we pay to produce from renewable energy projects as much electricity as we use. People voted for a government that promised to introduce that. You get the source of power you request from your government.

Australia is a significant contributor to global pollution far beyond our small size. One third of global coal exports come from Australia. We are a huge player in the global pollution game. We are in the supply chain for a huge chunk of the planet’s pollution. Our economic dependence on that in these changing times is a weakness that will eventually  threaten our livelihood. I’ve commented on that bind above.

I’ve never met a greenie that hates technology. Most I’ve met embrace it and share your view about technology helping humanity.

There are plenty of greenie engineers and scientists. They’d really struggle without technology.

Your cars arent all electric are they ?

So Australia gets penalised because of its exports and small population ?

Until.the big polluters change and they won't because they can't afford it wed be stupid to follow

We can't afford it either. 

Well.adapt to rising temps.  there's too much doomsday scenarios out there which i dont buy

If the Australia  people.vote in a govt that wants to do this that's fine too I guess 

Look at tesla.  That's the future of solving the problem.  Companies like that 

Coal power plants are much cleaner than the.past 

Evolution not revolution 

[Copa]

Canadian media advising Canadians how to donate money.. https://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/world/how-canadians-can-help-australia-wildfire-victims-and-firefighters-1.4753734