The weather around the world has gone mad

[monkey hanger]

the new religious maniacs. nothing would surprise me with these people.

[Margaret Pilkington]

There are many bush fires in Australia that have been started by idiotic actions(tossing cigarette butts from car windows.

But as the article points out very clearly....all wooded areas need to be managed and frequently they aren't.

I have spent a lot of time in Australia...there have been many years when temperatures have soared....and because rainfall was low....fire bans were put into place....the scientific evidence shows clearly that there have been other years with temperatures similar to the current situation.

Another issue is frequently power lines are close to trees....the branches grow and they touch the power lines and poof, up it all goes.

I feel very sorry for those who have lost everything....how do you come back from that?
My thoughts are with those people....many of those places in flames are not just dots on a map...they are places we have visited.

[DaveinGermany]

As a youngster I used to do forestry work, firebreaks & maintainance were a major part of the day to day routine. People who have no idea on a subject should never be let anywhere near policy making pertaining to that area ... ever!

[Ryewolf90]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

There are many bush fires in Australia that have been started by idiotic actions.

Australia's arson crisis -

[Margaret Pilkington]

A relative of ours has a homestead in Oz.
This guy has lots of trees on his property which is very big.
He applied to cut down some trees to create a firebreak so that his propert which is over 200 years old...was built by early settlers could be made safer.
His application was turned down....and he was told that if he did cut down the trees he would be hit with fines that could exceed a hundred thousand dollars.
Needless to say that he did not make his firebreak.

Now every bush fire season he damps down his property with the water from his pool.
Recently, his well ran dry, so he can no longer do this because the pool is no longer full of water....so I would guess that he is a very worried man right now.
Especially as the current fires are about 25 miles away.

That sounds a long way, but in the right conditions the fire could be on their property in a very short time.

It is tragic that bureaucracy can dictate unsafe practices...and enforce them with fines.

[Ryewolf90]

There was an article on a website I read where a guy did just that and chopped down trees to create a firebreak and was fined 100,00 dollars - his house was the only one to survive the fires.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Years ago it was possible to manage the trees on your property without the intervention of bureaucracy....that is no longer possible and the trees are not managed in the way they should be....or at least that is what my nieces husband tells me.

His property is at risk every spring and summer...this prevents him from selling it.

[Exile on Spencer St]

Originally Posted by Ryewolf90

There was an article on a website I read where a guy did just that and chopped down trees to create a firebreak and was fined 100,00 dollars - his house was the only one to survive the fires.

See web link in post #75

[Margaret Pilkington]

When my nieces husband told me about his experiences I thought he was exaggerating, it was only after I read this that I realised it was true.

[Margaret Pilkington]

180 Australians have been arrested for setting fires maliciously since the start of this current bushfire season which has so far left 25 people dead and has destroyed countless properties and led to the death of millions of animals.

So this is a man made disaster, but not a climate change issue.

[monkey hanger]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

So this is a man made disaster, but not a climate change issue.

sounds like those moorland fires that we got but on a much larger scale. know i,ve missed a lot lately being more than a bit under the weather but never heard anything on the news about the man made fires. would not suit their wider agenda though.

[cashman]

ive always wondered if climate change is a valid arguement, what caused the Ice Age back in time?

[Margaret Pilkington]

Cashy, there have always been cyclical changes in the climate.
Geological sampling proves this.
The current temperatures in Oz are nothing new....we were there 40 years ago and the Mercury hit 47 degrees on a number of days(this was in Melbourne).

Of course the dry weather means that the vegetation is tinder dry, and this predisposes to Wild fires, but the seasoned Aussies are all too aware of how to manage this.

What does have an effect is the government meddling in stopping owners from managing trees on their land.
I have to say that when my nieces husband told me of the punitive fines for managing his trees....I thought he was exaggerating, but the article posted by Exile earlier in this thread made me realise that it was all true...mea culpa.

[cashman]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

Cashy, there have always been cyclical changes in the climate.
Geological sampling proves this.
The current temperatures in Oz are nothing new....we were there 40 years ago and the Mercury hit 47 degrees on a number of days(this was in Melbourne).

Of course the dry weather means that the vegetation is tinder dry, and this predisposes to Wild fires, but the seasoned Aussies are all too aware of how to manage this.

What does have an effect is the government meddling in stopping owners from managing trees on their land.
I have to say that when my nieces husband told me of the punitive fines for managing his trees....I thought he was exaggerating, but the article posted by Exile earlier in this thread made me realise that it was all true...mea culpa.

aware of that, just the climate change bullshiners really get on my nerves.

[Margaret Pilkington]

And mine Cashy.