It's sad to see how these fires are automatically linked to climate change. Until the mid 2000's Australia burned down small patches of forests to prevent large disasters like these we have now. But that changed when burning down forests (mind you to prevent larger forest fires in the future) were deemed too bad for the environment. So now the policies and fire prevention techniques changed (for the worse) and exactl…
Wildfires Are Raging Outside Every Major City in Australia
81–90 of 215 posts
Re: Wildfires Are Raging Outside Every Major City in Australia
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
you've got to understand australia is huge, as big as the united states. so when you've got fires as big as european nations, it's impossible to extinguish, even contain.
Okay I get that, but how do they battle it? What is the plan? Where do they start? Are they just trying to prevent the spread and wait till the fire kills itself?
> Are they just trying to prevent the spread and wait till the fire kills itself?
Basically this whenever possible, often if it's not near a populated area they won't even try to limit the spread, they put themselves out eventually with the right conditions (wind, rain, geography). Near populated areas they do what they can, mostly controlled burns and having fire breaks that allow them to effectively concentrate resources (firetrucks, water bombers) where they can actually be useful, a firetruck can be effective where there's a firebreak but without one it would be suicide to be there.
Re: Wildfires Are Raging Outside Every Major City in Australia
#83If you live in Australia, what is this doing in terms of changing what people think and do about climate change? Is it motivating personal changes in diet, traveling and election voting choices? If this nightmare scenario isn't enough to push people into taking action, what will?
If you live in in the US you might be familiar with the line that some conservative politicians are taking - that this is a time of crisis, tragedy and grieving and should not be politicised.
Re: Wildfires Are Raging Outside Every Major City in Australia
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's a bit strange to use the population density of Australia to make a point, as the population density of Australia is one of the lowest in the world (3). You're basically saying we should tackle Australia's 481 before China's 3523 or India's 716 or US' 702. Maybe we should tackle China first, as it is producing 45% of the world's coal, compared to 6% of Australia. Now if you were to say that Australia is the 5th b…
Much of Australia's coal is burned in China. Germany is a literal "black spot" in that the coal industry still has political muscle there, despite Germany's otherwise relatively strong (but still very much minority) green movement.
They [Germany] got rid of their environmentally friendly nuclear reactors in favour of burning more coal after Fukishima. They're doing a bit of solar but are burning ever more and more coal.
Re: Wildfires Are Raging Outside Every Major City in Australia
#85It's sad to see how these fires are automatically linked to climate change. Until the mid 2000's Australia burned down small patches of forests to prevent large disasters like these we have now. But that changed when burning down forests (mind you to prevent larger forest fires in the future) were deemed too bad for the environment. So now the policies and fire prevention techniques changed (for the worse) and exactl…
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/12/is-th...
Thanks for the link, someone staying with us was saying exactly what this article is debunking. I've sent it to them, but I'm expecting an 'unchanged opinion' type response.
Re: Wildfires Are Raging Outside Every Major City in Australia
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/12/is-th...
Thanks for the link, someone staying with us was saying exactly what this article is debunking. I've sent it to them, but I'm expecting an 'unchanged opinion' type response.
No worries. The last thing Australia needs is bad info at the moment.
Re: Wildfires Are Raging Outside Every Major City in Australia
#87If you live in Australia, what is this doing in terms of changing what people think and do about climate change? Is it motivating personal changes in diet, traveling and election voting choices? If this nightmare scenario isn't enough to push people into taking action, what will?
The biggest driver of Australia's increased emissions is the increasing population: https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2017/07/greenhouse-gas-emis...
Under current immigration settings Australia will reach 40 million people by 2050.
With zero net overseas migration, the population would stabilise at 27 million then fall slightly. This is the most important change that could be made to assist the Australian environment, but sadly discussing immigration is completely disallowed in mainstream Australian media.
Re: Wildfires Are Raging Outside Every Major City in Australia
#88If you live in Australia, what is this doing in terms of changing what people think and do about climate change? Is it motivating personal changes in diet, traveling and election voting choices? If this nightmare scenario isn't enough to push people into taking action, what will?
If you live in in the US you might be familiar with the line that some conservative politicians are taking - that this is a time of crisis, tragedy and grieving and should not be politicised.
Thoughts and prayers!
Re: Wildfires Are Raging Outside Every Major City in Australia
#89As a long term Australian, this is categorically the worst fire season Australia has experienced. Summer in Australia always comes with one or two big fires in at-risk rural areas over the months from December to February. Queensland and New South Wales were burning heavily by early December. And now Victoria and South Australia have joined in as well and we're still only just into the second month of three. It's unp…
Comparing the costs of decarbonising vs rebuilding isn't quite the right comparison though (though it'll be psychologically important). It's not as if climate change would be reverted or even stop if we stopped burning fossil fuel now. There is a lag on the effect, and the situation would still be getting worse for a century or so. The comparison is between all the extra future damage of burning even more than we alr…
Could you say that the dipole effect is giving an advanced preview of what the shifting baseline of global warming will deliver every year in a decade or two?
Re: Wildfires Are Raging Outside Every Major City in Australia
#90Excuse my ignorance, can anyone explain to me what makes it so difficult to extinguish the fire? (This question is not meant to be an ass) I tried to google it, but couldn't find a proper answer. I'm just really curious.
Some other issues that I don't think have been mentioned:
- A lot of the trees are eucalypts which are super oily and incredibly flammable. Some have been known to explode when they get too hot.
- It's been getting incredibly windy, which is taking burning embers far ahead of the main firefront and starting advance fires. Recently, a firey was crushed to death after the fire engine was blown over on top of him the winds are that strong.