Australian heat waves & bushfires

[cupid_stunt]

Two articles with fascinating facts on just how bad it's been have caught my eye...

Australia fires: Smoke to make 'full circuit' around globe, Nasa says

Smoke from huge fires is expected to travel back to Australia after circling the globe, Nasa says.

www.bbc.co.uk

Nasa said plumes from blazes around New Year's Day had crossed South America, turning skies there hazy, and moved "halfway around Earth" by 8 January.

"The smoke is expected to make at least one full circuit around the globe," the US space agency said.

Australia fires: What's being done to fight the flames?

Here's what Australia is doing to tackle the worst wildfires the country has seen in decades.

www.bbc.co.uk

Ben Shepherd, of the NSW Rural Fire Service, said his colleagues had dealt with 4.2m hectares of burning land this season, compared with the typical 300,000 hectares.

Converting those figures, that's 16,216 sq, miles compared to 1,158 sq. miles! Greater London is 606 sq. miles, so 16,216 sq. miles is almost 28 times bigger than the size of Greater London, and that's just for the burning land area in New South Wales.

 

[weltweit]

 

[shakespearegirl]

Last few days in Melbourne were unbearable! Most of the last few weeks we’ve had to spend half our time inside due to smoke or pollution. In Canberra now and yesterday was fine but today is a bit grim..

 

[MrSki]

As cupid_stunt mentioned above the smoke has circumnavigated the world.

Australian news
·
Yesterday
The smoke from Australia's bushfires has circumnavigated the globe
Smoke from bushfires burning across southeastern Australia has travelled around the earth and back to Australian skies, NASA said on Wednesday (AEDT). Scientists using data from the NOAA/NASA Suomi NPP satellite traced the movement of the smoke, which has also triggered an unusually large number of fire-induced thunderstorms.

 

[D'wards]

Does anyone know what the long term environmental impact will be of this?

A complete catastrophe I reckon

 

[8ball]

Does anyone know what the long term environmental impact will be of this?

It'll grow back.

 

[planetgeli]

It'll grow back.

It already is doing so.

 

[D'wards]

I mean all that carbon based smoke floating abaht

 

[shakespearegirl]

Whole way from Canberra to Sydney today was like going through a smoke tunnel. Smoke as far as you could see (or not) on either side of the road. We’ve decided to cut short our time in Oz and go back to Thailand. It’s just not pleasant being here.

 

[ice-is-forming]

Well you know there has been a lot of criticism over photoes like these, apparently koalas don't drink like this. It can cause the water to go into their lungs and they die. Lots have died as a result of pics like this, and people unintentionally copying and doing the wrong thing. So they are currently saturating social media and the news to educate people that koalas need to be fed from a bowl they can lap from.

 

[SpookyFrank]

I mean all that carbon based smoke floating abaht

It'll be a huge amount of CO2 dumped into the atmosphere, and a large number of carbon sinks (aka trees) taken out of the system. A lot of these sorts of events will contribute to a positive feedback process that makes other such events more likely.

 

[ice-is-forming]

This is from last week, always gotta be careful what you wish for here..

 

[ice-is-forming]

After the smoke has cleared (for now)

'I've never seen bushland where the trees have become sticks': Fire carnage seen from the air

The ABC is given a flyover of the fire ground above the New South Wales Southern Highlands, about 100 kilometres south-west of Sydney. Before the fires, there has always been one constant in this lush landscape: green. But not anymore.

mobile.abc.net.au

 

[spring-peeper]

After the smoke has cleared (for now)

'I've never seen bushland where the trees have become sticks': Fire carnage seen from the air

The ABC is given a flyover of the fire ground above the New South Wales Southern Highlands, about 100 kilometres south-west of Sydney. Before the fires, there has always been one constant in this lush landscape: green. But not anymore.

mobile.abc.net.au

excellent read.

Thanks, Ice!!!

 

[ice-is-forming]

And today a dust storm in nsw, which was apparently followed by torrential rain and raining mud

 

[Mrs Miggins]

That is insane!

 

[ice-is-forming]

Bit of hail in Canberra today as well..

 

[Mrs Miggins]

bloody hell!

 

[cupid_stunt]

Hailstones the size of golf balls.

 

[ice-is-forming]

Hailstones the size of golf balls.

Yeah, we have a hail warning for tomorrow so we'll have someone monitoring the weather in the office at work. We'll shut up and go home early if need be. It's too dangerous to be outside and people want to get their cars undercover. After big hail storms they have 'storm sales' in car yards, you can pick up a good bargain if you want a car that needs panal work and windows

 

[two sheds]

Yes I remember similar cheap porsches in the Netherlands after a hailstorm there once.

 

[AnandLeo]

After the deadliest bushfires, now the Australia is blessed with hailstorms destroying property. What else could they have wished for at this hour of desperate need? Climate change gurus ought to have some explanation.

 

[butchersapron]

After the deadliest bushfires, now the Australia is blessed with hailstorms destroying property. What else could they have wished for at this hour of desperate need? Climate change gurus ought to have some explanation.

Are you saying that people who support the idea of man made climate change better have a bloody good reason for why all this climate change is happening?

 

[Marty1]

Sickening.

 

[cupid_stunt]

View attachment 196212

Sickening.

That's been debunked as complete nonsense, it's just certain media outlets, mainly those owned by Rupert Murdoch, trying to deny climate change.

See this post, and link below, - Australian heat waves & bushfires

Australia fires: Murdoch's son criticises News Corp coverage

James Murdoch and wife Kathryn say they are "disappointed" at ongoing "denial" by news outlets.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[AnandLeo]

Are you saying that people who support the idea of man made climate change better have a bloody good reason for why all this climate change is happening?

On the contrary, I am saying they have a vague idea of these phenomena of frequently occurring extreme events, especially of droughts and floods. But on this occasion, these two events of extreme heat and bushfires followed by hailstorms, I doubt they can conjure a scientific explanation. Rather ask the meteorologists for an explanation.

 

[Marty1]

That's been debunked as complete nonsense, it's just certain media outlets, mainly those owned by Rupert Murdoch, trying to deny climate change.

See this post, and link below, - Australian heat waves & bushfires

Australia fires: Murdoch's son criticises News Corp coverage

James Murdoch and wife Kathryn say they are "disappointed" at ongoing "denial" by news outlets.

www.bbc.co.uk

That’s interesting to read, but obviously arsonists aren’t helping the crisis.

We don’t just have a bushfire crisis. We have an arson crisis, too | The Spectator Australia

According to my calculations and estimates, the number of individuals around Australia whose arson has contributed to the current bushfire crisis has now passed 200. This figure is not presented as a…

www.spectator.com.au

 

[butchersapron]

View attachment 196212

Sickening.

That 'sickening' at the end is one of the most dishonest things i've ever seen on here. Not to mention you claiming in your little attempt yesterday to suggest that owen jones was lying or deserved his violent attack that you don't use twitter.

 

[cupid_stunt]

That’s interesting to read, but obviously arsonists aren’t helping the crisis.

We don’t just have a bushfire crisis. We have an arson crisis, too | The Spectator Australia

According to my calculations and estimates, the number of individuals around Australia whose arson has contributed to the current bushfire crisis has now passed 200. This figure is not presented as a…

www.spectator.com.au

But, that's all bollocks.

A story in the Murdoch-owned national broadsheet, The Australian, also falsely claimed that 183 arsonists had been arrested in the “current bushfire season”. That piece also went global. It was tweeted by Donald Trump Jr and followed up by InfoWars, a right-wing US website, which stated: “Authorities in Australia have arrested close to 200 people for deliberately starting the bushfires that have devastated the country, yet the media and celebrities continue to blame ‘climate change’ for the disaster.”

The number was a gross exaggeration. It was arrived at by counting a range of bushfire-related offences other than arson – including contraventions of fire bans, for example – and used annual figures, not those for the current fire season, which began in September. The Australian subsequently updated its story.

NSW’s Rural Fire Service has said the major cause of ignition during the crisis has been dry lightning. Victoria police say they do not believe arson had a role in any of the destructive fires this summer.

Who should we believe, the fire service & police or the Murdoch media?

Read the full article...

Disinformation and lies are spreading faster than Australia's bushfires

Social media claims of an arson epidemic and obstructive environmentalists have infected mainstream reporting of the bushfire crisis

www.theguardian.com

 

[ice-is-forming]

There have been very few attributed to arson, and those arson charges were things like people having a BBQ, or an unlawful burn off during a fire ban. Not people intentionally lighting bush fires.