The real reason Australia is ablaze!

begin to think, not being

Ah, I see. I must confess I didn't know who he was.

I think some of the Australian public are saying the same as the Professor from Monash University and are aghast and very angry that anyone could even being to think of starting fires.
I only know what I heard when I was there, what I have heard since and information that I have googled.

Apologies Callistemon for not giving proper context. In essence, Adam Hills is a member of the Australian public, originally from Sydney. He prefaced the comments saying that he didn't know if these had reached UK. The implication was that this is how Aussie public are currently seeing the crisis . When I saw his comments, I thought of this thread.

I'll try to link to the articles by Paul Read, Ecological Criminologist and Sustainability Scientist at Monash University.

www.smh.com.au/national/arson-mischief-and-recklessness-87-per-cent-of-fires-are-man-made-20191117-p53bcl.html

lens.monash.edu/@medicine-health/2019/11/13/1378374/not-powerless-to-prevent-disastrous-bushfires

An Australian criminologist and others, who hasve studied the fires over a long period, together with aerial footage, has stated that the largest percentage of fires is started by human activity, whether accidental or criminal.

Who is Adam Hills? Is he a scientist? Or a criminologist?

I will try to find the link.

You may all be pleased to know that the UK Government has liaised with the authorities in Australia and has sent out teams of specialists in various disciplines as requested. They will be helping where they are most needed.

This OP really really worried me but after watching Adam Hills on The Last Leg on Friday. He went home to Aus for Christmas.

He said arson was not the major cause of the fires, not environmentalists who wouldn't allow undergrowth to be cleared. The cause was lightning strikes plus hottest and driest weather on record, and the fires were generating the next lot of fires through the lightning

Denmark has offered to send over 400 firefighters to help to fight the fires across Australia but the offer has been declined. I am not sure why they were refused. Their own firefighters, both professional and volunteers, look exhausted. The Danes were offering support as they cannot take their own equipment for obvious reasons.

I wonder if the Australian fire chiefs were consulted or if this is a Government decision?

The people who don't believe use of fossil fuels is dangerous want to profit from investing in fossil fuels.

The Vegetation Management Act amended in 2017 is so complicated it is no wonder farmers, property owners, do not know what is allowable and what is not.

Rufus2 I forget the town where they live but it’s in Queensland.

You're right SD, that does sound like they are behind us, in a general way. Sometimes there seems so little we can do.

issue fines if you were wayward in your habits!
Sue; And so they should of course, although, with certain regs. and depending on which council, fines are sometimes not enforced. Of course they'll now all be a lot more diligent.
The "Green" councils seem to create more problems than others.
Given the vast number of Councils, to what area are you referring.?
OoRoo

For weather forecasts (I hope it works)

www.bom.gov.au

Rufus2 a couple who lived near me in Scotland emigrated to be with their daughter in Australia and making firebreaks on their land was mandatory. The local council even sent inspectors round to check it had been done and issue fines if you were wayward in your habits!

Gracesgranmk3 I suppose I was thinking more on a general level than a personal level. Things like plastic straws being offered in restaurants and shops automatically giving you plastic carrier bags, that kind of thing. In some places, I got funny looks when I produced my own bags! Also, in the camp sites we used, there were few recycling facilities so everything had to go in the general rubbish.

I came home with ideas about changes we can do to make small differences.

However, electric cars are not practical over there and big 4x4s or trucks are often the most practical way of transport in rural communities.
The use of school buses is much more prevalent there, though, due to distances involved, consequently we don't see the 'school runs' there that take over the roads here twice a day.

My niece lives in an area prone to flooding (here in the UK, not there; her village is on higher ground but the way in is lowlying) and said that farmers cleared their roadside ditches before the disastrous floods and they were fine where they are.

I hope the rains come soon over there.

Longleat have sent two koala experts out to help with rescued koalas.
And ladies here are knitting bags for joeys.

Australia will take a long time to recover this time.

SueH49 and Callistemon great informative posts from you.?

Callistemon DS commented on a raindrop or two while he was talking to me from his garden (trying to stop the dog chasing a baby bush turkey that had wandered in). My fingers are crossed for more to come (rain not bush turkeys).

Apparently (just spoken to my son) the Australian government do seem to be keen to look after the people who have lost their houses and to use more of the knowledge of the indigenous people.

We have done much the same though - not dredging rivers and ditches even though the local population kept saying it needed doing.

I was really shocked, listening to a programme on Radio 4 this morning, to hear how many species will have been completely wiped out.

SueDonim you must not have met my DiL A greener person you could not wish to find. It must be who you meet. I came away with the idea they knew much more and practised it more assiduously than we do but that will just be their friends, etc. If you mix up the people I know over there and the ones you met I expect you have a similar spectrum to our country and other first world countries.

You must have had a good lunch yesterday!
No, fat fingers are to blame.
Well, they're not at all fat, just not as nimble as they used to be, just like the rest of me in fact.

Is there no way or area that that the Aussies could drill for water ? Plenty of programmes about digging for opals etc but as yet none for finding water which is a vital commodity on such a continent.

That does seem a logical process, to me, that nature knows best
Sue. Thanks for your interesting post. Questions are often raised here about how the Aborigenes coped with environmental problems before the advent of environmentalists, social workers and assorted hand ringers. By their very nature gum nuts need fire to crack open and generate new growth.
Some Councils ban house owners from clearing vegetation close to houses; interfering with nature!
Now we have the "young" people holding marches when the police and other bodies are trying to point out that all the protesters are achieving is a diversion of resources from other far more important work.
Commonsense is sadly lacking!
OoRoo

Hace a peaceful night
Callistemon "Hast"; "Hace" ?? You must have had a good lunch yesterday! Not another birthday?!
Yes thank you, I did have a peaceful night, despite the fact that it was 20C all night and I didn't fall into bed till 2.00am
It got to about 35C by lunchtime today, then the rains came !
Hallelujah! Was still raining when I last looked at tea-time, so praying that it's moving further North to the fire regions
Temp dropped rapidly to 14C so now have sweater on; Crazy weather!
Btw; You're welcome to criticise our pollies! Go for it! We're grateful that your Queensland friends and relatives caused Bill Shorten to lose the "unloseable" election, as he'd promised to go after retirees and their nest-eggs etc. to fund Labour's pie-in -the-sky election promises.
Our No.1 son and family are heading out of Brisbane tomorrow for a week's holiday at Surfer's Paradise; he says things are not too bad up there.
OoRoo

I was lucky enough to visit Australia last September and I have found the recent reports coming from Australia so incredibly sad. I was really quite surprised on our visit to find that Australians seemed not as environmentally aware as I had assumed such a beautiful country with such a young population would be. Although we did arrive in Sydney to the first Extinction Rebellion march, which we hadn’t heard about because we were travelling!

Regarding the actual fires, Peter Woollhbern in his book The Hidden Life of Trees has some interesting thoughts. When talking about the wildfires in California, he says they have been so devastating in recent years because any and all fires are so vigorously put down.

He says that nature permits small fires to develop and burn away brush as a way of regenerating new growth. These fires only burn up to certain height, do not damage the flora permanently and are slow burning so wildlife can escape. They cleanse the forest of brush and debris.

By not allowing these small fires to burn, the dead detritus builds up to several feet deep and when a fire does eventually break out, it has so much fuel available that it reaches great heights, setting the canopy on fire and burning so fast and fiercely that wildlife cannot escape.

That does seem a logical process, to me, that nature knows best.

if there is no ignition, there is no wildfire
Baggs True, but if there is wildfire then there must have been ignition!
We'd like to think that no humans are involved, but unfortunately that's rarely the case. I believe that volunteer fire brigades used to be plagued by arsonists joining to start fires for the thrill of "helping" to put them out, but authorities are now very good at weeding them out through body-language techniques.
As Monica says, most are started by lightning strikes, particularly after such a long period of drought; they now call it dry lightning
Cheers.