We had the orange skies in Dunedin, NZ requiring car headlights on during the day, and you could actually smell the burning in the air. I cannot imagine the horror of what is happening across the water in OZ. My heart goes out to them and the wildlife.
Backfiring. Don’t forget the moorland fires we had recently there used to be controlled burning to regenerate the heather, that was banned and we got uncontrolled fires.
Don’t forget Somerset floods, the Environment agency decided to save money by not dredging because it we good for the environment, we all know the result of that.
Don’t let the environment lobby run riot, there is a cost to ignoring local knowledge.
I'm not sniping, BradfordLass I have family there, have witnessed the fire just behind us, a property nearby got burnt out, a livelihood lost.
I just get rather cross when people who do not know the reality, the conversations going on in Australia, seem to think they know more than the ancient traditionalists like the Aboriginal peoples.
I wouldn`t make this political annie, there are people here with families in danger in australia. This has happened because the greenies stopped backfiring the undergrowth. The aborigines knew what they were doing
And still there are climate change deniers! This is a thoughtful and sad article written by a Canadian living in Australia. It covers not just these fires but the historical and environmental background.:
what is even worse is that on the news today, some aussie said that the fires are so out of control that they won`t stop until they reach the west coast. Its not just surface fires but the heat is causing lightening all over the place and peat underground is on fire and will be impossible to put out. The heat generated is causing fire tornadoes with massive energy, they twist and push and rise and then the wind blows the fire a long distance. He said that the eco system is destroyed forever and still they want to extract an unbelieveable amount of coal from the north. Australia produces more CO2 than india and just marginally less than china
This is so awful. I read that the NZ glaciers have turned brown from ash. I can't imagine how it must feel to be in Aus right now, the news doesn't seem to get any better. My thoughts are with them all, and pray for rain.
It’s such a dreadful situation isn’t it? The pictures we are seeing here on the news look like something straight out of a disaster movie.
It was said the other night that the fires could go on for a few months yet.
We often complain about our weather here in the UK but after seeing what other countries have to endure with floods, droughts and now the Australian fires, we have much to be thankful for here with our mostly benign climate.