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Australian Bushfires - ADF Support

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  • Australian Bushfires - ADF Support

    Just a few pics,

    Australian Defence Force set up an operation base at the Bairnsdale Secondary College housing up to 300 defence personnel. Photos by Age photographer Joe Armao

  • #2
    Just terrible what's happening in Oz, like a terrible vision of an apocalypse.....and sadly I think a portent of the future in a lot more places.
    Last edited by Rocinante; 10 January 2020, 15:23.

    Comment


    • #3
      California was not far off last year.
      For now, everything hangs on implementation of the CoDF report.

      Comment


      • #4
        One thing you won't hear in the news is that the usual effect of the bushfires have been magnified by the Greenie-orchestrated obstruction of preventative backburning during the cool season.
        Backburning is an effective method of hazard reduction and has been in use since long before records began - it is now prohibited in many places. Try to figure that one out.

        Also largely ignored is that roughly 85% of bushfires are caused by sickos with matches. This is the percentage of fires for which either someone is charged, or which are classified as 'suspicious' for one reason or another but no detection is made.

        None of the above fits in with the relentless narrative that 'climate change' is responsible for the current state of affairs, so you won't see anything about it in the Irish Times et al.
        Last edited by FCA Trooper; 11 January 2020, 14:57.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by FCA Trooper View Post
          One thing you won't hear in the news is that the usual effect of the bushfires have been magnified by the Greenie-orchestrated obstruction of preventative backburning during the cool season.
          Backburning is an effective method of hazard reduction and has been in use since long before records began - it is now prohibited in many places. Try to figure that one out.

          Also largely ignored is that roughly 85% of bushfires are caused by sickos with matches. This is the percentage of fires for which either someone is charged, or which are classified as 'suspicious' for one reason or another but no detection is made.

          None of the above fits in with the relentless narrative that 'climate change' is responsible for the current state of affairs, so you won't see anything about it in the Irish Times et al.
          Probably because what you state above, has been reputed as absolute bollox?

          Does controlled burning work?
          Done properly, it can help limit the spread of fires and make it easier to put them out.
          But Swansea University professor Stefan Doerr, an expert in wildfires, believes the practice is less effective than it used to be because of the more extreme weather Australia has started to experience.
          "It can make a difference for a few years, but I'm doubtful it would make a difference in the current extreme drought conditions," he said.
          How much controlled burning has there been?
          Australian firefighters have a long history of carrying out this type of burning to reduce fire risk. "They are some of the most experienced and well-trained in the world," says Prof Doerr.
          Burning to prevent fires is regulated and carried out by state agencies like the relevant fire service, park authority or environment body.
          In areas of special environmental value or near heritage sites, national level permission is needed, according to the Department of the Environment and Energy.
          An analysis by ABC News shows that while some controlled burning targets in Queensland and New South Wales have been met, others have not because the weather conditions were not right.
          The NSW Rural Fire Service report for 2018-19 reveals that although they exceeded targets for reducing fire hazards in parks and forested areas, they fell short of their targets for local government land, privately-owned land and other areas.

          Getty

          Prolonged drought conditions adversely affected the ability to complete hazard reduction work.

          Rural Fire Service
          New South Wales
          Controlled burning can only be done in cooler, damper weather with low wind speeds, to avoid the fire getting out of control.
          In 2015, a fire that was started by the Victoria state authorities to burn off hazardous undergrowth ran out of control, destroying four homes and more than 3,000 hectares of farmland and forest.
          As fires takes hold across vast areas of Australia, some people set out to make the problem worse.

          How many fires are started deliberately?
          Two of the most recent studies say there are between 52,000 and 54,000 bushfires in Australia every year.
          Dr Paul Read, co-director of Australia's National Centre for Research in Bushfire and Arson, puts the figure higher, at "62,000 and increasing".
          Of those, 13% are started deliberately, and 37% are suspicious. That means 31,000 Australian bushfires are either arson, or suspected arson, every year.
          That figure does not include recklessness or accidents. So a bushfire caused by a barbecue, or a spark from a chainsaw, would be classed as "accidental".
          In short, up to 85 bushfires begin every day because someone leaves their house and decides to start one.
          Go sell your fake news bullshit somewhere else. People are dying here, it's no time for some right wing conspiracy theory nonsense.
          For now, everything hangs on implementation of the CoDF report.

          Comment


          • #6
            If you don't mind me saying so, in our numerous interactions to date I've noticed that you seem to become pretty angry when people say things you disagree with. While I appreciate that you probably feel strongly about certain things, there's no need to be a dick about it.

            It's a discussion board. The whole point of it for people to share different views. If you're going to give yourself high blood pressure every time someone's views don't correspond with yours, maybe you shouldn't be here.

            As for your scientist friend in Swansea, you can bet your bottom dollar that his research funding depends heavily upon him coming up with the 'correct' findings re. 'climate change'.
            There was a scientific professor at a University in Queensland who recently went against the grain by publishing findings which stated that the Great Barrier Reef was not under grave threat from climate change, and was actually regenerating in places at a rapid rate. This was completely contrary to what his colleagues were finding.
            Guess what happened to him? He was shown the door. He recently won a court case against the uni for wrongful dismissal. His name is Peter Ridd, look him up.

            When scientistsare getting sacked for not complying with received wisdom, it really makes you wonder. Or maybe it doesn't. In your case, it probably doesn't.

            They stopped using mercury barometers to take official temperature readings in Australia circa 1998, and switched over to electronic means. Simultaneously, they changed their methodology. Temperatures have been 'rising' ever since.

            I live in Australia. Last summer was the coolest in several years, there was barely a day when it went above the low thirties. This year is hotter, but not unusually so.
            I'll pay more attention to what I see and feel myself than what the media tells me I should be thinking.

            Comment


            • #7
              Indeed, who needs facts when you have your opinions.
              I provided 2 sources to dispel your lies.
              The least, very least you could do is provide a source for your tale about the scientist who couldn't.
              For now, everything hangs on implementation of the CoDF report.

              Comment


              • #8
                Troops on their way to assist in the Bush Fire Operation via C17A Globemaster,



                there will be no fighting over window seats on that baby.
                Last edited by IrishDigger; 12 January 2020, 06:25.

                Comment


                • #9
                  In antiquity, people used to explain extreme weather events by believing that they'd angered the gods and were being punished for it.
                  As mankind progressed, such thinking went by the wayside.
                  It has now returned, only in a different guise. We are blaming extreme weather events on our sins against the planet. It has become something akin to a cult. Personally, I think that people are trying to fill the void left by the decline of organised religion, but who knows.

                  Captain Cook recorded massive bushfires in his diary as he sailed around the coast of Australia in the 1700s.
                  There have been worse bushfires and worse and more prolonged droughts throughout the 19th and 20th centuries than the ones happening now.
                  Climate change wasn't trending back then though, so people just put it down to the fact that such things, while tragic, go hand-in-hand with living in a hot and dry land.

                  We now suddenly blaming events which have always happened on a gas which is, and always has been, emitted by every human being, animal, plant, tree and blade of grass.

                  I wouldn't be too bothered if the consequences we're seeing weren't so serious.

                  We've now reached a point where we have sixteen year old 'prophets' who can 'see' CO2 in the air being lauded at the United Nations and in the media.
                  We have the bored, spoiled children of rich people disrupting entire cities by gluing themselves to pavements.
                  We have naive young kids, with no experience of anything, working themselves into a state of distress because they think the world is about to end.
                  We have governments hell bent on getting rid of reliable sources of power and replacing them with unreliable ones, with power shortages and suffering citizens the result.
                  We have governments talking about banning the internal combustion engine.
                  And to cap it all off, we have scientists, the people we've depended on since the dawn of mankind to be inquisitive and independent, being rewarded for coming up with the 'right' findings and punished for coming up with the 'wrong' ones.

                  It's batshit.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by FCA Trooper View Post

                    Captain Cook recorded massive bushfires in his diary as he sailed around the coast of Australia in the 1700s.

                    We now suddenly blaming events which have always happened on a gas which is, and always has been, emitted by every human being, animal, plant, tree and blade of grass.
                    At the time of Captain Cook there was around 1 billion people on this planet, today we are over 7 billion. There were no internal combustion engines and the primary form of energy was wind. The bushfires he saw where new for a north European and must be taken in relation. No one is saying that a bushfire is new, it is the extent of the fires. The weather patterns have changed, where I live every winter there was a lot of snow, now the past few years less and less. This year so far none at all. In the area of Australia where I have relations they normally can depend on rain throughout the year, it hasn't rained for more than 6 months. The climate is changing and we are the ones driving that change. It is good always to question as the media does get things wrong, although not always intentionally. But the "fake" news you are spreading does not hold up.

                    As for CO2, I think you will find that trees and grass are net consumers of this gas taking the C for building their structure while expelling the O2 for us to breath.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by na grohmiti View Post
                      Probably because what you state above, has been reputed as absolute bollox?



                      As fires takes hold across vast areas of Australia, some people set out to make the problem worse.



                      Go sell your fake news bullshit somewhere else. People are dying here, it's no time for some right wing conspiracy theory nonsense.
                      Both of you guys should back the truck up on that one. The reality is somewhat different.

                      The NSW Volunteer Fire Fighters Association do point the finger at firebugs being one of many factors. However the NSW Rural Fire Service states that actual Green Party opposition to backburning has not been a reality. What is not stated is that back burning is not the only way to reduce ground hazard fuel loads. Slash and remove of scrub undergrowth is one, particularly within fire breaks which are at times not sufficiently maintained. Sorry to say that some environmental groups get a bit antsy about scrub slash and removal and that is unfortunate, however some environmental groups don't (Not all environmental groups or environmentalists agree on everything contrary to popular media opinion) and there are some environmental groups who do oppose resource consents on all forest interventions including backburning (Likewise not all environmental groups or environmentalists are Green party members either again contrary to popular media opinion). The state governments cannot get a free pass as they have slashed ground hazard mitigation funding in recent years, but not the ground hazards sufficiently.

                      Yes people (and animals) are dying but political agendas at both extremes of the climate debate are murking things up in the media. What has caused the devastation is multifactorial - the climate, the hot dry windy weather (which are two distinct things), lack of mitigation funding by the states, the reduced weather window to do backburns, the odd nutjob here and in some cases some environmental groups. However the sheer scale of country, three quarters of the EU is size, is that just a few thousand firefighters just cannot contain it.

                      I am a member of a volunteer rural fire force unit in NZ though non operational. We have forest fires though luckily not on the scale and frequency of Australia. What I can say is that forest fire risk is three times more likely than 20 years ago according to Fire & Emergency NZ our governing body, and thats where the downstream risk in a climatic sense plays a role in that there is now a higher frequency of windier days during the hot and drier summer months - the worst combination possible. All it takes is a few hours direct sunlight on a coke can or glass bottle thrown out the car window into the bush or simply left behind by a hiker and 10 hectares can be alight within the hour as a recent callout our unit attended.

                      By the way last weekend mid afternoon the sky was a bronze sepia like tone here in NZ 2500kms away from smoke blown across the Tasman Sea when it seemed the Australian fires were at its worst. Never had it like that before. That really bought home how bad it is.
                      Last edited by Anzac; 12 January 2020, 11:26.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Many people in Ireland seem to have been led to believe that the entire Australian landmass is on fire.
                        It's why you have people using words like 'apocalypse' and positing that such events are going to be happening year-on-year from this point forward, due to human-driven climate change.

                        Climate change is certainly real. The Earth's climate is constantly changing - it has been since day dot.
                        We've had an Ice Age, a Little Ice Age, a Medieval Warm Period, a Roman Warm Period, and whatever the hell we're in the middle of at present. It is changing and will continue to do so, but the notion that we have any control over it is false.

                        In the seventies, scientists came up with proof that global cooling was a thing, and that the planet was slowly freezing over. There was widespread concern in the scientific community, but the idea didn't gain as much traction with the general public because social media didn't exist.
                        More recently, scientists have found proof that global warming is a thing, and due to the prevalence of social media, everyone is now losing their shit over it.
                        Tragic events such as the Australian bushfires, the like of which have always happened from time to time, and always will happen from time to time, have been seized upon as evidence of it.

                        The reason I take issue with this is that it has consequences for people.
                        In the past number of years, electricity prices have gone up and up due to a shift towards 'green' power. Which is all well and good if you're wealthy, but not so good if you're a business owner struggling with overheads, or an elderly person living on a pension.
                        For Christ sake, they've been having brownouts and blackouts in Adelaide and Melbourne on 40 degree days, because the grids can't cope. How does that happen in a first world country with massive coal reserves? Bad energy policy, based on the notion that burning fossil fuels causes climate change.

                        We live in an era of unprecedented comfort and prosperity, largely due to the power provided by the burning of fossil fuels. We could end up pissing it away if we're not careful.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by FCA Trooper View Post
                          In antiquity, people used to explain extreme weather events by believing that they'd angered the gods and were being punished for it.
                          As mankind progressed, such thinking went by the wayside.
                          It has now returned, only in a different guise. We are blaming extreme weather events on our sins against the planet. It has become something akin to a cult. Personally, I think that people are trying to fill the void left by the decline of organised religion, but who knows.

                          Captain Cook recorded massive bushfires in his diary as he sailed around the coast of Australia in the 1700s.
                          There have been worse bushfires and worse and more prolonged droughts throughout the 19th and 20th centuries than the ones happening now.
                          Climate change wasn't trending back then though, so people just put it down to the fact that such things, while tragic, go hand-in-hand with living in a hot and dry land.

                          We now suddenly blaming events which have always happened on a gas which is, and always has been, emitted by every human being, animal, plant, tree and blade of grass.

                          I wouldn't be too bothered if the consequences we're seeing weren't so serious.

                          We've now reached a point where we have sixteen year old 'prophets' who can 'see' CO2 in the air being lauded at the United Nations and in the media.
                          We have the bored, spoiled children of rich people disrupting entire cities by gluing themselves to pavements.
                          We have naive young kids, with no experience of anything, working themselves into a state of distress because they think the world is about to end.
                          We have governments hell bent on getting rid of reliable sources of power and replacing them with unreliable ones, with power shortages and suffering citizens the result.
                          We have governments talking about banning the internal combustion engine.
                          And to cap it all off, we have scientists, the people we've depended on since the dawn of mankind to be inquisitive and independent, being rewarded for coming up with the 'right' findings and punished for coming up with the 'wrong' ones.

                          It's batshit.
                          Clue is in the evaluation of the Eucalyptus trees. they over millions of years have developed a ring at ground level that after another boring bush fire sprouts new branches.

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                          • #14
                            Operation Bushfire Assist,


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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by FCA Trooper View Post
                              Many people in Ireland seem to have been led to believe that the entire Australian landmass is on fire.
                              It's why you have people using words like 'apocalypse' and positing that such events are going to be happening year-on-year from this point forward, due to human-driven climate change.
                              "Apocalypse" is probably a fair summarisation of what its like to live through an intense bushfire, though. But more generally, I suspect many in Ireland just don't understand how large Australia is, and hence how small an proportion of the country that has been burned. This should help: https://thetruesize.com/#?borders=1~...MTM5MTExMzg)Mw

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