"Absolute panic" amid Australia bushfires

[Habitat]

The very likely looming hikes in insurance premiums for bush-block dwellers, plus the unease people will feel that they might become a victim, will see a lot of people abandoning such habitation. I was Impressed by one fella that had an automated sprinkler set-up on his home, that activated when the fire arrived, his home survived, others surrounding did not. He did not stick around to see if it worked, if it hadn't, he might have been cooked. I'm surprised more people haven't done the same, but you would need plenty of water in storage.

[+susieice]

6 minutes ago, Peter B said:

Thank you, I will.

In the meantime one of the fires has been burning not far from where Obviousman lives and works.

Plus, here's how bad the air is in Canberra ATM: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-01/smoke-shrouds-australia-as-nsw-bushfires-continue/11835734

 

 

I hope Obviousman and his neighbors are alright. 

The smoke we're seeing in pictures here is just so thick. The pictures of the koalas are just heartbreaking. I have a Facebook friend in Adelaide who is posting pictures of how they are putting out buckets and pans of water into their yards so the koalas can drink. She hasn't mentioned fires, just excessive heat. 

[Black Red Devil]

New Year's revellers raise more than $2 million for bushfire relief

 

[Unusual Tournament]

2 hours ago, Habitat said:

The very likely looming hikes in insurance premiums for bush-block dwellers, plus the unease people will feel that they might become a victim, will see a lot of people abandoning such habitation. I was Impressed by one fella that had an automated sprinkler set-up on his home, that activated when the fire arrived, his home survived, others surrounding did not. He did not stick around to see if it worked, if it hadn't, he might have been cooked. I'm surprised more people haven't done the same, but you would need plenty of water in storage.

even the simple process of maintaining a fire break around properties should be mandatory. I'm also very impressed with the sprinkler system. That should also be encouraged. But like you said water is a problem.

[Black Red Devil]

2 hours ago, susieice said:

I hope Obviousman and his neighbors are alright. 

The smoke we're seeing in pictures here is just so thick. The pictures of the koalas are just heartbreaking. I have a Facebook friend in Adelaide who is posting pictures of how they are putting out buckets and pans of water into their yards so the koalas can drink. She hasn't mentioned fires, just excessive heat. 

Know people from around the Bargo area where there was a serious blaze but it seems to be almost contained now.  Bargo is in the deep south west of Greater Sydney, close to the Royal National Park (where the fire is burning) South of Sydney and close to popular picnic and bushwalking tracks near the Avon Dam, which is popular with local tourism.  Don't think they will have much tourism this year.

[psyche101]

On 12/22/2019 at 1:19 AM, jypsijemini said:

Don't get me wrong, I'll be the first to admit that I don't know what my government is doing (besides media censorship and allowing chemical spraying through the skies) and really, I don't waste my time trying to find out.

It's not a matter of ignorance. I'm risking being virtually lynched by saying this, but I honestly believe we're going the same way as the US when it comes to our influence over our own government. I refuse to vote properly. I only go to the ballots because I was stupid enough to think I had to register when I became an adult. I pay my taxes to avoid being prosecuted. But on every ballot paper, I scrawl "FECK THE SYSTEM" all over it. I know what this achieves - nothing. A political enthusiast friend of mine said they just throw my vote towards the winner of my state anyway, or something along those lines.

I don't see the point any more. They don't listen to us when we protest. They don't listen to us when we sign petitions. They'll keep making their decisions amongst themselves and choosing whichever party leader they want, changing our prime minister on us at the drop of a hat.

They don't teach us about politics in school so we're all growing up having no idea what each party is about and why our vote matters at all. They make promises that they don't uphold. We have to rely on personal research, TV ads and newspapers to tell us what we need to know - and usually that information is limited anyway. Most of it is just propaganda and "this is why you shouldn't vote for the other guy" anyway.

Most days, our clear Australian skies are streaked with chem-trails. They're not con-trails. I haven't seen a plane leave a condensation trail like that - ever. Whatever that shiiit is that they're spraying through our skies in long lines lingers for half a day and spreads right out - and the planes are not commercial. They're huge. And they usually happen right before a heat wave. Very quick searches through google on Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SRI) show that it's said to be a form of weather manipulation that is meant to help with (preventing) global warming. It certainly seems to have an effect, as it happens right before or at the beginning of an Australian heat wave, and usually the heat wave is chased up by an unusually and unnaturally cold day or two right afterwards.

However, we have no idea what is actually being sprayed into the skies - which wouldn't just simply hover up there as a sort of layer. It's been widely and regularly suggested that the trails contain Barium, Strontium and Aluminium. Others just say it's sulphur dioxide and that it's no different to the gases released during a volcanic eruption. Personally, I'm worried. I don't like that this isn't common knowledge. I don't like that Australian citizens and residents have no say in whether this happens or not. We were never asked. It affects all of us. Even if it's completely harmless, we have no one telling us what they're doing and why. The bureau of meteorology (and weather) for Australia seemingly offers no information on the subject.

I know we've come a slow but long way in the past twenty years in some areas. We're practically plastic bag-less and moving deeper into abandoning them completely. It's meaningless when we consume more water from plastic bottles than the tap and we're still lumping all our rubbish in 'reusable' plastic bags and dumping them all in a big old garbage bag anyway. We're using more recycled plastics, our newspapers are printed on recycled paper and we've abandoned plastic beer packaging. Every home has a recyclable bin that's significantly larger than the rubbish bin, as well as a green compost bin. These are all provided by the council. Most homes are going solar and there's a lot of wind farms right across the country. It's not enough, but we're finally catching up and trying, at least.

We're an avid car culture and the size and vastness of our country means it'll take an incredibly long time and a lot of pushing to get people to accept electric cars. They're going to have to develop something that equates to a loud V8 engine with a lot of guts that runs off batteries to get your everyday Aussie to even consider converting. Our country only survives because of trucks. And it's too bloody hot to even consider a vehicle that has no air conditioning. There's no way you're going to convince the majority of Australians to ride a metal bicycle with a black seat to work on a 40 degree day.

But there's got to be a better, more sustainable way and we make too many excuses while refusing to look for solutions.

Crikey Moses.

That's pretty wild. 

Your vote goes nowhere. Our government are too useless to be considered a threat. We haven't had a real politician in power since little Johhny. The Rudd government was too concerned with backstabbing each other in a race for power, and Sco Mo's main presence seems to be too look as uninformed as Abbott, it's like he's trying to justify being the village idiot. Seriously, if you think this bunch of clowns could organise that level of public deception, then you're much more easily impressed than I am. Our current government is about as efficient as a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off.

If they are controlling the weather, they are doing a lousy job at it. I've seen the contrails. I work near the airport. Seriously, if they really are Chem trails I'd be surprised if they got .000001% of the population. Too small, and tend to drift over the ocean. None hang around for days, that has never happened. Some of them I understand have even been rocket tests by private companies.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/lifestyle/rocket-launch-gilmour-space-technologies-disappointed-by-failed-rocket-launch/news-story/9ec5caac05d09d5542bedc905e975310

Are you aware of the bottle recycling scheme? It's huge. 10 cents a bottle. My flatmate usually comes home with 100-150 dollars a month. Plastic bottles are too valuable now to dispose of in landfill. People are walking the streets picking them out of bins. Not homeless or anything, just paying for a hobby, sudden bill, some pay rego that way. It's easy money.

Car culture is from a sorts angle. The majority of cars around me on the highway every day are 4 cylinder or hybrid. Some V8s sure, but nothing like it was 30 years ago. 

The government helped people pay for solar. Millions of homes received assistance to install it. Sure, it probably saved much more than it would have to upgrade the power grids, but it's a supportive step in the right direction. The government is very supportive of alternative technology.

You seem to be describing American paranoia, I just don't see your claims as valid 

[psyche101]

1 hour ago, Black Red Devil said:

New Year's revellers raise more than $2 million for bushfire relief

 

Disappointed that Sydney went ahead. That money would have gone a long way 

[Black Red Devil]

2 hours ago, psyche101 said:

Disappointed that Sydney went ahead. That money would have gone a long way 

I know what you mean.  I was in two minds about it actually.  Morally it was the wrong thing to do but financially it helped raise $2 mil and it brought tourism which, I expect/hope the state Govt will divert a lot of the profit to the victims and SES.

[tmcom]

7 hours ago, Peter B said:

In the circumstances we're experiencing you might do better to not look so pleased with yourself.

Plus you'd do better to provide some decent evidence than to wave around vague years and percentages.

I can't find any evidence of "50% of [the] state" burning. The Black Friday fires of January 1939 burned about 2 million hectares, or about 10% of Victoria's land area. The fires of 1851 maybe burned double or triple that. Still nowhere near 50%. Plus, in any case, Victoria today is a very different place from 1851 or 1939.

As for the heat in 1878, I'll take your word for it (but still it'd be nice for you to, you know, provide some evidence). But what's a single temperature worth? Was it part of a heatwave? Was it part of a drought?

http://joannenova.com.au/2019/12/hottest-ever-day-in-australia-especially-if-you-ignore-history/

Three weeks over 40, which puts our so called unprecedented heatwave to shame, and had people and birds dropping like flies.

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/68533670/6691547#

11 Jan, 1939 was actually the hottest day on record, overall in AU.

And the Google search showed 1878, not 1876, which was used here, but the sources above have the data, and newspaper clippings.

And VIc, has burned over 400,000ha, where Black Saturday in 2009 burned 450,000ha, so we are close to beating the worst in recent history.

 

PS havn't found the association with fires, but it stands to reason that three stikin hot weeks, will create fires bigger than current ones, even with the green nutters locking up national parks.

Edited January 1, 2020 by tmcom

[Farmer77]

33 minutes ago, tmcom said:

Three weeks over 40, which puts our so called unprecedented heatwave to shame, and had people and birds dropping like flies.

Damn I really thought Australia was hotter than that.

 

 

Edited January 1, 2020 by Farmer77

[tmcom]

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/68533670/6691547#

You may also notice the 27 days for Sydney heatwave over 100, or over 40 dc, (no d....heads moaning about the fireworks, or wind turbine huggers getting off back then).

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/96551278?searchTerm=worst fire in Vic&searchLimits=

It will probably take some research here, but l did find this, that shows in a 1951 year, newspaper that 1939, was the worst fire in Vic, history.

Edited January 1, 2020 by tmcom

[openozy]

1 hour ago, tmcom said:

(no d....heads moaning about the fireworks

You have to be joking,I don't know where you live in Oz but we have been breathing smoke and suffering intense heat for weeks.The fireworks display showed a total disregard for the firies who lost there lives,it was disgusting and horrifying to see more fire.D---heads watching this while families huddled on beaches with nowhere to escape except the ocean.Another black day for Oz,sort of matches the landscape.

[psyche101]

3 hours ago, Black Red Devil said:

I know what you mean.  I was in two minds about it actually.  Morally it was the wrong thing to do but financially it helped raise $2 mil and it brought tourism which, I expect/hope the state Govt will divert a lot of the profit to the victims and SES.

Still, 6.5 million would go much further. I doubt people would have complained too much, at times like this we are usually pretty good at supporting each other.

[Eldorado]

Update:

Bushfires have killed at least eight people in south-eastern Australia since Monday, with two others remaining unaccounted for.

The latest fires, which raced towards the coast this week, have also destroyed more than 200 homes.

At the BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-50962728

[psyche101]

4 hours ago, Farmer77 said:

Damn I really thought Australia was hotter than that.

You know that's Celcius right? That's like 104° F.

[psyche101]

2 hours ago, openozy said:

You have to be joking,I don't know where you live in Oz but we have been breathing smoke and suffering intense heat for weeks.The fireworks display showed a total disregard for the firies who lost there lives,it was disgusting and horrifying to see more fire.D---heads watching this while families huddled on beaches with nowhere to escape except the ocean.Another black day for Oz,sort of matches the landscape.

My friend was showing me his friends house on Instagram. They had to head to the end of the street, put on life jackets and hop in the water. Fire was raging. It would be scary to be there.

Amazingly, his house survived. Both either side of his didn't.

[Golden Duck]

11 hours ago, tmcom said:

11 Jan, 1939 was actually the hottest day on record, overall in AU.

The article says "three capitals".  That's not "overall".

Provide the comparitive datasets to back up your assertions.

PS.  Did you ever write to the conservative minister responsible for the "leftist BOM"?  

 

[openozy]

8 hours ago, psyche101 said:

My friend was showing me his friends house on Instagram. They had to head to the end of the street, put on life jackets and hop in the water. Fire was raging. It would be scary to be there.

Amazingly, his house survived. Both either side of his didn't.

That's what is strange about the bushfires,sort of like an evil force picking and choosing it's victims.Glad your friend is ok 101.

[Eldorado]

"Thousands evacuate as bushfire danger expected to worsen on Saturday"

"Officials have declared an entire NSW town "undefendable" and told everyone to leave as bushfires fears ramp up with the mercury set to soar. "

Full report: News dot com Australia

[tmcom]

March, 1878, was the hottest month globally, and when CO2 was much lower, thank you!

[Essan]

Someone else who doesn't understand the difference between temperature and temperature anomaly  

Also worth reading this: https://qz.com/1055629/why-does-all-our-climate-data-start-in-1880/

[tmcom]

March 1878, was the hottest month cited by several newspaper articles from half a dozen countries worldwide. NASA shows a chart showing a 3mm ocean level rise yearly since 1880, eventhough no museum image from that century ever shows a rise when compared to a present day image!

Edited January 2, 2020 by tmcom

[Essan]

53 minutes ago, tmcom said:

March 1878, was the hottest month cited by several newspaper articles from half a dozen countries worldwide.

How many were in the northern hemisphere?

And are you sure they said it was it was even hotter than any month in the 20th or 21st centuries?   

[Golden Duck]

5 hours ago, tmcom said:

March 1878, was the hottest month cited by several newspaper articles from half a dozen countries worldwide. NASA shows a chart showing a 3mm ocean level rise yearly since 1880, eventhough no museum image from that century ever shows a rise when compared to a present day image!

Do you know why people take photos?

Have you heard of tides?

Do you know how to calculate a mean?

[+Desertrat56]

Just now, Golden Duck said:

Do you know why people take photos?

Have you heard of tides?

Do you know how to calculate a mean?

Have you read any of his other posts?  If so, you know the answers to your questions.