Australia's record setting heat, fires

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ASPartOfMe
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19 Dec 2019, 1:46 am

Australia's NSW State Declares State of Emergency Amid Bushfire Threat

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Australia's most populous state declared its second state of state of emergency in two months on Thursday as extreme heat and strong winds were expected to fan scores of uncontrolled bushfires.

Firefighters were given broad powers to control government resources, force evacuations, close roads and shut down utilities across New South Wales state, where 100 wildfires are burning.

With more than half of those fires burning uncontrolled and temperatures forecast to exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), officials warned residents to be on high alert over the next several days.

"The biggest concern over the next few days is the unpredictability, with extreme wind conditions, extremely hot temperatures," NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney.

Australia has been battling wildfires across much of its east coast for weeks, leaving six people dead, more than 680 homes destroyed and nearly 3 million acres (1.2 million hectares) of bushland burnt.

Some 1,700 firefighters have been deployed across the state, but officials warned that would not be enough to cover every potential danger and urged people in high risk areas to evacuate while it was still safe to do so.

"There are simply not enough fire trucks for every house. If you call for help, you may not get it," the Rural Fire Service said in a statement. "Do not expect a fire truck. Do not expect a knock on the door. Do not expect a phone call."

Sydney, the capital of NSW state, was blanketed in ash and smoke for yet another day on Thursday. The heavy haze obscured visibility, hiding icons like the Opera House and Harbour Bridge.

Many commuters have donned breathing masks in recent weeks as air quality has plunged to hazardous levels not previously seen in the city.

NSW Ambulance Commissioner Dominic Morgan said the service had experienced a 10% surge in call-outs for patients suffering respiratory conditions over the past week.

Morgan urged people with asthma and other respiratory conditions to remain indoors and keep their medication close.

Home to more than 5 million people, Sydney is ringed by large areas of bushland, much of which remains tinder dry following little rain across the country’s east coast in recent months.

The heightened fire danger in NSW state comes as Australia is in the grip of a nationwide heat wave. The country recorded its highest average maximum temperature of 40.9C (105.6F) on Tuesday, and Bureau of Meteorology data shows that record was likely to be exceeded again this week.

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cyberdad
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19 Dec 2019, 4:19 am

Three former fire chiefs have reinforced claims that "unprecedented" bushfires raging across Australia are linked to climate change and urged the government to show strong "national leadership".
Australia is currently in the grip of a highly destructive bushfire season, with more than 100 fires sweeping across New South Wales and Western Australia.
Former NSW Fire and Rescue Commissioner Greg Mullins had forecast this bushfire season was going to as bad as anything he had encountered in his career.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/fire- ... c36fb45a19

cyberdad
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19 Dec 2019, 4:29 am

Australian musician Tim Minchin has tweeted his disgust for the Australian government's inaction over climate change as bushfires rage across the country.
The Perth-raised musician and lyricist behind hit musical Matilda posted a picture of himself with a snow globe made of ash from the NSW bushfires on Twitter.
He asked Prime Minister Scott Morrison "where the bloody hell are ya?" as the prime minister reportedly enjoys a holiday in Hawaii with his family as Australia burns to a crisp.
https://www.news.com.au/technology/envi ... af81c535a8

cyberdad
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19 Dec 2019, 6:36 pm

According to a cigarette index measuring levels of toxic air, as reported by the Australian Daily Telegraph, breathing in the smoke-filled air covering the state is like dragging on a cigarette all day or 34 cigarrettes in a day.

The prime minister has now cut short his holiday in Hawaii after an outcry over 2 firefighters having died.
He has apologised to the Australian people for causing any offense sunbaking in the tropics while his constituents are inhaling toxic smoke.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal ... 53lqv.html

cyberdad
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19 Dec 2019, 9:53 pm

Smoke from NSW has just hit Melbourne, went outside my house and there is smoke haze, hard to breath

If you don't hear from me then consider me to be the next victim of the fires...

blazingstar
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20 Dec 2019, 3:07 am

Seriously tragic. My words are inadequate, but holding you and all affected by the fires in the light.

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cyberdad
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20 Dec 2019, 3:21 am

I'm in Melbourne which is as far south as you can go. The temperature is around 112 F. and there is a haze from the smoke which still has not dissipated. Fortunately the forecast is for a cool change (fingers crossed)!

kraftiekortie
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20 Dec 2019, 9:14 am

That's the weird part about heat waves in Australia.

It can be 115 one day in Melbourne. The next day, it might struggle to make it to 70 (even in the summer).

Pepe
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20 Dec 2019, 6:54 pm

cyberdad wrote:

"In what Universe?"

An expert in Australian drought considerations says otherwise.

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In June Professor Andy Pitman quietly dropped a bomb:

“…as far as the climate scientists know there is no link between climate change and drought.”

“…there is no reason a priori why climate change should make the landscape more arid.“

He’s admitting there’s never been a scientific basis for the endless climate drought scares? He went on to say that in Australia, droughts are not increasing, and there’s no drying trend in one hundred years of data. He’s also admitting the models can’t predict extremes in rain either.

Also:

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Argument from authority (Latin: argumentum ab auctoritate), also authoritative argument and appeal to authority, is a common form of argument which leads to a logical fallacy when misused.
In informal reasoning, the appeal to authority is a form of argument attempting to establish a statistical syllogism.

The arguments I have seen are logically invalid and simply appeal to emotional sentiment.
A typically left-wing approach so often used.
BTW, I am not against all left-wing ideology,
Only the stupid parts. :mrgreen:

Rather than political posturing,
The entire focus should be, err, focused on practical solutions to the situation at hand.
Exploiting a highly emotional situation is deplorable,
But do we really expect integrity from our media and politicians either side of the political divide?
(Rhetorical question. Don't answer that. :mrgreen:

)

Pepe
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20 Dec 2019, 6:58 pm

cyberdad wrote:

I'm in Melbourne which is as far south as you can go.

Apart from the entire "continent" of Tasmania. :mrgreen:

cyberdad wrote:

Smoke from NSW has just hit Melbourne, went outside my house and there is smoke haze, hard to breath

If you don't hear from me then consider me to be the next victim of the fires...

Typical.

Mexicans always blaming the Cockroaches for everything.
The "NSW" smoke will eventually stop polluting "the Socialist Republik of Victoria",
As soon as we switch the wind-turbines off that are blowing it your way. :mrgreen:

blazingstar
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20 Dec 2019, 7:07 pm

Meanwhile, the outback burns, indigenous people are forced to move out of the lands, and people's homes burn. Regardless of what is causing it, there are some serious weather extremes going on and people are suffering.

Melbourne is as far south as it gets and so for those northern hemisphere-centric folks, that means it should be cooler there. I defer to cyberdad regarding what normal temperatures should be.

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cyberdad
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20 Dec 2019, 7:25 pm

kraftiekortie wrote:

That's the weird part about heat waves in Australia.

It can be 115 one day in Melbourne. The next day, it might struggle to make it to 70 (even in the summer).

Which ironically is what has happened, Melbourne today is half the temperature of yesterday....

cyberdad
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20 Dec 2019, 7:31 pm

blazingstar wrote:

There certainly has been a loss of homes/lives which unless there is drastic change in fire management practice will be an annual event. The problem with global warming is that this is just a foretaste of what is to come.

blazingstar wrote:

Melbourne is as far south as it gets and so for those northern hemisphere-centric folks, that means it should be cooler there. I defer to cyberdad regarding what normal temperatures should be.

Pepe has a point. I would serious consider moving to Tasmania which is an island of the southern coast. Melbourne has been lucky up to now as we have escaped the worst of what northern states have been experiencing. I think Sydney siders have had 28 toxic air days over the last 2 months which is horrible especially for little kids. Yesterday was the first time I experienced what Sydney was going through and it was not pleasant, especially for those with respiratory conditions like myself.

blazingstar
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20 Dec 2019, 7:35 pm

I could see living in Tasmania to get away from the smoke. Have you checked the elevation?

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cyberdad
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20 Dec 2019, 7:38 pm

blazingstar wrote:

I could see living in Tasmania to get away from the smoke. Have you checked the elevation?

Yes I think Cradle mountain in central Tasmania is elevated enough to escape the smoke, but there is a fair distance across the Bass strait and sufficient wind to disperse the drifting smoke long before it hits the Tasmanian north coast.

blazingstar
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20 Dec 2019, 8:54 pm

I was referring more to sea level rise.

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