Australia is on Fire
Australia has a climate of extremes. Very high temperatures, floods and bush-fires are commonplace. None of this is new or indeed unexpected. It is the way of life and part of the complex ecosystems that are on the island of Australia. What is unusual is the extent to which Australia is burning. An area the size of Belgium is on fire. To understand the sheer size of Australia try to picture the following. If Australia was lifted and it's most westerly point was positioned on Achill Island then the most easterly point of Australia would extend well beyond Moscow. Australia is a vast continent with 5 different climates. Most people live on the coast (and in particular the east coast). Much of the centre of Australia is desert.
A very informative discussion took place on RTE Radio One last Sunday (Jan 5th 2020) on the Marian Finucane Show here that helps to explain the size of the problems and the extent to which there is no chance of managing the disaster. What is apparent is that the fires may indeed continue for at least another two months given the incredible Summer temperatures being felt in parts of Australia at present.
Australia on fire. Image based on NASA data and made by Anthony Hearsey.
Bushfires in Australia
Bushfires are an intrinsic part of Australia's environment. Natural ecosystems have evolved with fire, and the landscape, along with its biological diversity, has been shaped by both historic and recent fires. Many of Australia's native plants are fire prone and very combustible, while numerous species depend on fire to regenerate. Indigenous Australians have long used fire as a land management tool and it continues to be used to clear land for agricultural purposes and to protect properties from intense, uncontrolled fires.
A very informative report on the Bushfires and how the press are treating them in Australia. The reaction to Climate Change and their fossil fuel industry is portrayed very differently in the press depending on the political leaning of the paper in question. The video offers some reasoning as to why there is very little attention paid to Climate Change.
Australia Is Committing Climate Suicide
As record fires rage, the country’s leaders seem intent on sending it to its doom.
This is Australia's Chernobyl. A very informative article by Richard Flanagan in the New York Times on Jan 3rd 2020
Australia today is ground zero for the climate catastrophe. Its glorious Great Barrier Reef is dying, its world-heritage rain forests are burning, its giant kelp forests have largely vanished, numerous towns have run out of water or are about to, and now the vast continent is burning on a scale never before seen.
More here (As of today January 6th there are 24 dead with many more reported as missing)
The bookstore in the fire-ravaged village of Cobargo, New South Wales, has a new sign outside:
"Could it be that the immense, still-unfolding tragedy of the Australian fires may yet prove to be the Chernobyl of climate crisis? "
Bindi Irwin, Steve's Irwin's daughter, and the rest of the Irwin family have rescued and treated over 90,000 animals, many of which were injured in Australia's recent devastating wildfires.
Ollie, an orphaned platypus, was patient number 90,000 at the Wildlife Hospital, Bindi's brother, Robert Irwin, said on Instagram.
