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Australia Earth Science

Climate Change is Intensifying Australia's Fires (technologyreview.com) 177

Tens of thousands of Australians are fleeing their homes as hundreds of fires rage across the continent's southeast coast. And yes, climate change is almost certainly to blame for the extent of the disaster. From a report: With more than a thousand buildings destroyed and 17 deaths since October, it already ranks as one of the worst fire seasons in Australia's history -- and summer there has barely begun. What's driving the fires? Summer wildfires are common in Australia, but climate change is making them worse. Spring rainfall has declined in recent decades, even as temperatures rise, extreme heat events become more common, and droughts turn more severe, according to a 2018 report by Australia's Bureau of Meteorology. Those forces have contributed to a greater number of days with "very high fire dangers," and helped extend the fire season into spring.
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Climate Change is Intensifying Australia's Fires

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  • I know it's fake. Trump, Alex Jones, and my gun-worshiping, Christian buddies told me so. Plus, I'm a computer software engineer, so I I'm smart and I can figure anything out. That majority of scientists who say global warming is real and caused by humans have just fallen for a Chinese trick. Plus I once read an article that one of them is a liar and the data is false.

    PRAISE THE LORD!

    • by Nidi62 ( 1525137 ) on Friday January 03, 2020 @01:02PM (#59582602)

      my gun-worshiping, Christian buddies told me so....PRAISE THE LORD!

      I now read from the Book of Genesis, Chapter 4 verse 5:

      "And God created the Colt Model 1911 and saw that it was good."

      • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

        by lactose99 ( 71132 )

        "Thou shalt worship no other gods before the Bushmaster AR15"

      • No god would create something that is so hard to field-strip.
        • by Nidi62 ( 1525137 )

          No god would create something that is so hard to field-strip.

          Good point. Although the 7 round capacity lines up nicely with the 7 days of creation.

          And apparently the mods aren't in a humorous mood either.

        • by OzPeter ( 195038 )

          No god would create something that is so hard to field-strip.

          Brother, you would be wise to consider your words when speaking of the sanctity of the the tasks placed before you by the lord.

          Perhaps you need to make a pilgrimage to the Tube of You and review some of the holy videos that show this task.

          Remember, it is beholden upon you to field strip this holy relic in under 60 seconds at least once in your life.

          • by x0 ( 32926 )

            Remember, it is beholden upon you to field strip this holy relic in under 60 seconds at least once in your life.

            Also, if you put an idiot scratch on it, you'll have to pay penance, and have Saint Turnbull refinish the frame.

            m

            • by Nidi62 ( 1525137 )

              Remember, it is beholden upon you to field strip this holy relic in under 60 seconds at least once in your life.

              Also, if you put an idiot scratch on it, you'll have to pay penance,

              Reminds me of the first time taking apart my low serial # M1 carbine and I ended up scratching some of the top layer of patina off on the barrel band. Fortunately it's not too noticeable, but I was heartbroken for a minute.

    • Re: (Score:2, Troll)

      by jellomizer ( 103300 )

      The sad thing is I am unsure if your comment is satire or your honest opinion.

      I remember back in the 1990's when posting satire on the set of anti-evolution laws being passed. Stating the world was flat, and I used all the stupid arguments then to "prove" the world was flat. To this day I am unsure if I caused the flat earthers or not.

      In 2020 we really cannot afford posting sarcasm because there will be someone who will pick it up and follow it.
       

      • If the Earth was flat, cats would've already pushed everything off of it.

      • by chthon ( 580889 )

        No you didn't. Maybe you aggravated it.

        But I am re-reading PG Wodehouse's work, and in "Psmith in the City", 1910, he mentions someone talking about the flat earth in Hyde Park, so actually, nothing new under the sun, only worse.

      • Most people got that. Hence all the idiots whining about how global warming is fake.

      • by gweihir ( 88907 )

        I remember back in the 1990's when posting satire on the set of anti-evolution laws being passed. Stating the world was flat, and I used all the stupid arguments then to "prove" the world was flat. To this day I am unsure if I caused the flat earthers or not.

        Hahaha, nice possible legacy! On the other hand, these people are so incapable of verifying facts, they would just have fallen for something else completely stupid. You may just have decreased the numbers of anti-vaxxers or followers of some (well, any, really) unsavory religion.

    • Yeap: damn commies!
    • by Z80a ( 971949 )

      How about "it's real, but all those people screaming have zero intention of actually fixing it and are just using it to push their retarded socialist agendas?"
      We're probably getting saved from this hell by the solid state Dr.Goodenough batteries, not politics.
      Technology is a lot better at solving out issues than politics.

    • I know it's fake. Trump, Alex Jones, and my gun-worshiping, Christian buddies told me so. Plus, I'm a computer software engineer, so I I'm smart and I can figure anything out. That majority of scientists who say global warming is real and caused by humans have just fallen for a Chinese trick. Plus I once read an article that one of them is a liar and the data is false.

      PRAISE THE LORD!

      There you go: Confusing Weather with Climate.

    • by rtb61 ( 674572 ) on Friday January 03, 2020 @08:17PM (#59584154) Homepage

      Well technically intensify bushfires is not really all that accurate. All that can really happen is they start earlier in the fire season and once that happens, well it can not happen again later in the season. The real reason why the big fire, cheap ass conservative government did no fire prevention, no regular burns when the fuel load is low as the cheap arse cunts wanted to give tax cuts to their buddies and themselves the rich and greedy and spent fuck all money on fire prevention and mitigation, relying on gullible volunteers to do it all for the rich and so the hobby farms of the rich and greedy went up in flames and tourism in Australia took a mighty blow.

      So what is needed is more tax cuts to cut more fire prevention mitigation efforts and burn more carbon because just let the damn fucking planet burn.

      They used to charge extra tax to pay for bushfire mitigation to limit the harm caused by bushfire, the the insatiable greed at the top, demanded more tax cuts, well fuckers you got them and you fucking hobby farms burnt to the ground, only solution MORE FUCKING TAX CUTS for the insanely rich and greedy yeah because that will solve the problem.

      Ohh and I forgot more poor gullible working class volunteers to protect the properties of the rich and greedy unwilling to pay taxes to pay for that protection. The conservative government could afford tax cuts but can not afford to pay wages for fire fighters every single hour they work. Why the fuck volunteer to be a poor idiot protecting the properties of the rich, no pay, no play, not even training.

      • You do realise fire control and burns etc is a state not federal responsibility. Nothing the Federal government does or does not do with taxes or money is relevant.
    • by shanen ( 462549 )

      I know it's fake. Trump, Alex Jones, and my gun-worshiping, Christian buddies told me so. Plus, I'm a computer software engineer, so I I'm smart and I can figure anything out. That majority of scientists who say global warming is real and caused by humans have just fallen for a Chinese trick. Plus I once read an article that one of them is a liar and the data is false.

      PRAISE THE LORD!

      It's time's like these when I wish I had a mod point once in a while. The trolls are after you [TheMiddleRoad] hard, though your Funny is holding up for now. All I can do is quote your comment to make it slightly harder for the sock puppets with mod points to hide it.

      Of course I realize that the humor has an ugly base. Just reading Selfie and passed the chapter about justified positive self-image versus the fake positive self-image of a narcissist. Perhaps the most important aspect was how a narcissist is

  • by Z00L00K ( 682162 ) on Friday January 03, 2020 @12:46PM (#59582540) Homepage Journal

    Instead of temperatures around the freezing point we have temperatures almost up to 10 degrees C in January.

    Of course it can suddenly flip, but so far it's just strange and so far I have only had about 3 or 4 mornings this winter where I have had to scrape of the ice from my windscreen on the car.

    • I hope your house isn't built on permafrost.

    • Instead of temperatures around the freezing point we have temperatures almost up to 10 degrees C in January.

      Of course it can suddenly flip, but so far it's just strange and so far I have only had about 3 or 4 mornings this winter where I have had to scrape of the ice from my windscreen on the car.

      I never had kids but I used to be one until I no longer met the age requirement.

      I'm 74 and I remember harsh seasons with short periods of autumn and spring.

      Nowadays, winter and summer are mild and the beauty of autumn and spring transition are gone.

      I'm a seasoned (see what I did there) photographer and the stark beauty is gone.

    • Strange winter in Québec too, we had a green christmas, which is pretty rare, and for a few weeks now we have a -5/+5C temperature which is not normal too. I guess the -30C is coming though...

    • by gtall ( 79522 )

      Russia imported fake snow for Moscow...it seems they ran out of the real stuff.

    • by green1 ( 322787 )

      Of course if someone in another part of the world posts that their particular winter is colder than normal, they'll be told that local weather does not equate to global climate. So why is your local weather different?

      If local weather != global climate, then it works both ways.

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Friday January 03, 2020 @01:01PM (#59582596)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • by MightyMartian ( 840721 ) on Friday January 03, 2020 @01:12PM (#59582656) Journal

      Sadly it takes catastrophes like this for people to wake up. We've been warned since the 1970s that GHG emissions were going to significantly increase the amount of solar radiation being trapped in the lower atmosphere, and really, we've known it since the 19th century when CO2s properties were first fully understood. There are no surprises here.

      The treatment Morrison is getting, not helped by him taking a vacation while his country burned, awaits many leaders as the effects of AGW become more apparent.

      • by OzPeter ( 195038 )

        The treatment Morrison is getting, not helped by him taking a vacation while his country burned, awaits many leaders as the effects of AGW become more apparent.

        Sadly he seems to be following in Abbott's footsteps: Tony Abbott, former Australian PM, tells Israeli radio the world is 'in the grip of a climate cult' [theguardian.com]

      • by gweihir ( 88907 )

        And that is the real issue: There was generous time to do something effective, but besides some cosmetic action, nothing was done and the problem got worse. This will be a race between the more and more panicked deniers and the people that push for the massive changes urgently needed. Still, it is pretty clear that the range where this can go now is somewhere between "extreme catastrophe" and "extinction", because nothing decisive is going to happen anytime soon. There are too many deniers and too many peop

        • For me, it's akin to some cult leader declaring "you can defy gravity, it doesn't apply to you!" and then instructing his followers to walk off the edge of a cliff. Well, I'm afraid the laws of physics are not contingent on our beliefs, denials, or how bad the consequences are of ignoring them. Increasing CO2 PPM increases the capacity of the lower atmosphere to trap solar radiation, thus adding more energy to atmospheric systems, not to mention the delightful side effect that the oceans will absorb a good

          • by gweihir ( 88907 )

            Well, sort-of. You usually have a choice to join a cult or not (exceptions apply, for example children born into one). Hence with a cult, you can just decide to not be in it and then ignore the mass-suicide (or enjoy the show of extreme virtue-signalling failure, if you are so inclined). The problem with climate change is that everybody has mandatory membership in this suicide-cult. Otherwise I would not mind them denying things all day long and removing their own future.

      • Killed 24 people. Not a catastrophe.

        I do not care about plants and animals or species as a whole. All that matters is impact to humans

        As far as i know the areas burned are wasteland. Wiki page has no information on economical impact.

        Until that impact is calculated, stop bullshitting people with your sensational titles calling this a catastrophe.

  • Not really (Score:2, Interesting)

    by PPH ( 736903 )

    Local meteorologist (not an AGW panic monger) says fires correlate more with previous seasons of moderate weather, adequate rainfall and good growing seasons. More fuel == more fire.

    • by MobyDisk ( 75490 )

      This is an interesting idea. The article doesn't do anything to correlate global warming with the fires. But I'm not seeing anything in the Australian crop reports that corroborate the statement that Australia had a good growing season last year. But I'm not entirely sure. There was a spike in 2017, but for 2018 they were showing a decrease in crops. Here's what I found:
      https://www.agriculture.gov.au... [agriculture.gov.au]
      http://data.daff.gov.au/data/w... [daff.gov.au]

      • by Layzej ( 1976930 )

        The article doesn't do anything to correlate global warming with the fires

        The link between temperature and forest fire risk is well established.

        "The three sides of the fire behavior triangle are weather, topography and fuels. [idahofirewise.org]

        Weather includes wind, temperature, cloudiness, moisture and air pressure. High temperatures and low humidity cause vegetation to dry and wildfires to burn rapidly."

        This summer in Australia was the hottest and driest on record. The dryness appears to be the result of bad luck [wordpress.com] rather than global warming. The temperature on the other hand is part of

        • by MobyDisk ( 75490 )

          Ultimately we are in agreement here, but I still want to clarify the global warming/fire correlation:

          The article doesn't do anything to correlate global warming with the fires

          The link between temperature and forest fire risk is well established. [idahofirewise.org]

          The article you link to does not correlate global warming with fires via heat. Here is what it says about heat:

          Heat - to raise fuel temperatures to their ignition point and to ignite fuels. Common sources of heat are lightning and human activities.

          The "heat" link means "matches" and "lightning" but has nothing to do with air temperature. I don't think global warming has gotten us significantly closer to the 232C that causes paper to burn. So I'm still not seeing the connection between global warming and the fires. This reminds me of the m

          • So I'm still not seeing the connection between global warming and the fires.
            Because you have mental problems?

            Warmer -> more heat waves -> drier forrests -> more fires and more violent fires.

            Sorry to bring it so bluntly to you, no idea why you can not conclude that yourself.

          • by Layzej ( 1976930 )

            The "heat" link means "matches" and "lightning" but has nothing to do with air temperature

            Right, but read a bit further down and it talks about the factors that affect how a wildfire burns, how fast it moves and how difficult it is to control.

    • This shit is quantifiable. Record high temperatures for record durations plus dry conditions == record shattering fires. So more like:

      Local meteorologist (a denialist dipshit)

      as "moderate" years haven't produced 12 million acre fires you absolute clown.

    • Interesting. Climate change article talks about climate change (known to cause abnormal weather patterns) as being a cause and your defense against it is ... the previous season's abnormal weather patterns.

      Umm... yes. The answer is yes. Not sure what your point is, but it's definitely not "not really".

    • by Whiney Mac Fanboy ( 963289 ) <whineymacfanboy@gmail.com> on Friday January 03, 2020 @06:34PM (#59583840) Homepage Journal

      Local meteorologist (not an AGW panic monger) says fires correlate more with previous seasons of moderate weather,

      WTF are you talking about? Do you have a cite? Do you even have a name of the meteorologist for us?

      Your imaginary local meteorologist differs from what the bureau of meteorology have to say, which includes [bom.gov.au] special statements such as:

      Dangerous bushfire weather and heat in spring 2019
      Issued 18 December 2019

      Severe fire weather conditions in southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales in September 2019
      Issued 24 September 2019

      Drought conditions in eastern Australia and impact on water resources in the Murray–Darling Basin
      Updated 29 November 2019, Issued 9 April 2019

      An abnormally dry period in eastern Australia
      Issued 1 November 2018

      Persistent summer-like heat sets many April records
      Issued 13 April 2018, updated 16 April 2018, updated 3 May 2018

      Record warmth in the Tasman Sea, New Zealand and Tasmania. Joint statement with NIWA (New Zealand)
      Issued 27 March 2018

      A prolonged warm spell in Tasmania and Victoria
      Issued 4 December 2017

      Exceptional September heat in eastern Australia
      Issued 5 October 2017

      Exceptional heat in southeast Australia in early 2017
      Issued 22 February 2017, updated 24 February 2017, updated 11 April 2017

  • Then (Score:4, Insightful)

    by cascadingstylesheet ( 140919 ) on Friday January 03, 2020 @01:30PM (#59582722) Journal
    Then I guess we'd better hurry up and go full nuclear, and find technological ways to sequester carbon. Snarking and name calling just doesn't seem to be getting the job done.
    • by Uberbah ( 647458 )

      Then I guess we'd better hurry up and go full nuclear

      Sure thing - if you also think the solution for high student loan costs is to make students sign for $2.5 million Bugatti's, and that the solution for the homeless problem is to build each homeless person an 8,000 square foot mansion filled with lead paint and asbestos.

    • by green1 ( 322787 )

      Well first all the climate leaders need to fly their private jets to a few more overseas conferences so they can discuss the problem further (skype isn't an option if you're a true leader!), then middle class individuals need to pay more money to be redistributed to third world dictators. those things are very important to reduce overall emissions!

  • Ops, fires...
  • by Kernel Kurtz ( 182424 ) on Friday January 03, 2020 @03:25PM (#59583176)

    Far be it from me to ruin people's commiseration over the impending end of the world. Just thought I would point out that life for the vast majority of the worlds population just keeps getting better, climate notwithstanding.

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/20... [spectator.co.uk]

    Now back to your regularly scheduled doom and gloom.

  • by Nivag064 ( 904744 ) on Friday January 03, 2020 @04:45PM (#59583498) Homepage

    When using Slashdot, without being logged in, I saw a post claiming nuclear was the way to go. I tried commenting, but was told anonymous posting was not allowed.

    However, when I logged in, I can no longer see the post I tried to reply too -- no matter what I do!

      > Then (Score:3)
      > by cascadingstylesheet ( 140919 ) on Friday January 03, 2020 @12:30PM > (#59582722)
      > Then I guess we'd better hurry up and go full nuclear, and find
      > technological ways to sequester carbon. Snarking and name
      > calling just doesn't seem to be getting the job done.

    Before you invest any further into nuclear, find safe & economic ways to deal with spent fuel rods & decommissioning old reactors. Currently solar & wind power sources are faster to set up & far cheaper when all costs are considered.

    • If you want to reply to a post click on the post number, that will open it in a new screen and you can log in then. That way it doesn't disappear.
  • The bush fires are a big kick-up the backside of the Australian government but is it a sufficient kick to get their government to take climate change seriously ?

    Australia has some of the best solar resources in the world. Will the Australian government build solar farms in preference to coal mining ?

    I think we are now at a crossroads whether humanity can take a different course to reduce the impacts of climate change.

    Luckily, the US is also being impacted by climate change putting political pressure on stat

  • by Xenna ( 37238 ) on Friday January 03, 2020 @06:13PM (#59583778)

    Australia isn't just punished for its own sins, but for the whole world's sins. CO2 doesn't care about borders.

    It doesn't really make sense to claim they did it to themselves. Autralia can go CO2 neutral today but it won't help to get rid of the fires.

    Perhaps those yearly fires will change the vegetation in such a way that it will be less susceptible to them.

    • Australian vegetation adapted to fires long long ago, it is part of the natural process here, obviously not usually on this scale. Tends to be the animals and people that don't recover so well from it.
  • The correlation between intense wildfires in Australia and climate change was brought to you by CORI - Captain Obvious Research Institute.

  • What do you mean summer has barely begun? we are peak of summer now,
    • by green1 ( 322787 )

      Officially most of that was spring. Summer only started at the end of December. The seasons don't exactly line up with what the weather really does, nor with what people refer to the seasons as.

      • summer starts December 1. December/Jan/Feb are the hottest months in Australia. The seasons line up perfectly with what the weather does in Australia.
        • by green1 ( 322787 )

          Actually December 22 is the official start of summer (the summer solstice). You were close at being only 22 days out, but many people believe it starts even earlier (often as early as the end of October). Summer ends and fall starts on March 20th (fall equinox)

          • AHHHHH you realise the solstice is not the start of summer, it is the peak. It is also referred to as Midsummer.
            • by green1 ( 322787 )

              The solstice is the technical definition of the start of summer. That's why they say “summer has only just started“ because we're only about week in.

              Now if your feel like using your own definition that starts at a different time, feel free. But know that you'll be just one of many such definitions, and one that will not line up with any official report, the first “really hot“ day is what triggers it for many people, so late October or early November often.

    • Summer began a bit more than two weeks ago .... long time to go till you are at peak.

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