A haunted Australia stares down bushfire disaster again

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As Australia edged into spring in 2019, former fire brigade chief Greg Mullins warned the country was disastrously primed to burn.

Over and over, he begged to be heard. In letters, phone calls, press conferences and countless interviews, he painted an apocalyptic picture of the summer ahead.

But his pleas fell on deaf ears, and his premonitions would come true.

Over the coming months, Mr Mullins watched on as 24 million hectares was torched - an area the size of the UK. Almost 2,500 homes burned down, and 480 people died in the flames and smoke.

Now a worrying combination of conditions has Mr Mullins sounding the alarm again.

Authorities have stressed this summer will not reach the same scale. But years of rain have caused an explosion in plant growth, which is drying out after Australia's warmest winter on record, and an El Nino-affected summer promises more oppressively hot and dry conditions.

 

Just days into spring, parts of the country are experiencing catastrophic-level weather warnings.

"Bushfires will be back in the headlines," Mr Mullins tells the BBC.

"I'm nervous."

A firefighter's 'nightmare'

Out in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales (NSW), it's not hard to see why.

Walking through the thick scrub of Nattai National Park, the occasional blackened tree trunk peeks out from behind a wall of leaves. Only by craning your neck can you see that the canopy is still threadbare. The area was incinerated four years ago.

"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, there's no way I would believe that had burned as hard as it did," local firefighter Andrew Hain says.

 

FULL STORY

 

[thaibeachlovers]

The premise of the headline is flawed.

Bushfires are a natural event. IMO it is humans living where they should not that is the problem.

[LosLobo]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

The premise of the headline is flawed.

Bushfires are a natural event. IMO it is humans living where they should not that is the problem.

Your premise is flawed.

 

Most bushfires are manmade.

 

https://theconversation.com/humans-light-85-of-bushfires-and-we-do-virtually-nothing-to-stop-it-126941

 

[thaibeachlovers]

16 hours ago, LosLobo said:

Your premise is flawed.

 

Most bushfires are manmade.

 

https://theconversation.com/humans-light-85-of-bushfires-and-we-do-virtually-nothing-to-stop-it-126941

 

Do you think bushfires never happened before pyromaniacs existed?

 

 

[thaibeachlovers]

For those unaware that fire is a natural part of the life cycle of Australian trees:

 

https://www.quora.com/Is-there-a-tree-in-Australia-that-naturally-sets-itself-on-fire-to-regenerate-itself-and-whats-the-name-of-it

A lot of Australian flora has actually become dependent on fire to germinate, and that isn’t going to evolve in a mere 50,000 years or so.

Australian Aborigines developed their burning practices in response to the environment, not causing it.

 

https://www.quora.com/Is-there-a-tree-in-Australia-that-naturally-sets-itself-on-fire-to-regenerate-itself-and-whats-the-name-of-it

Has Australia started replanting the trees that were burnt due to the recent massive fires?

One thing about Australian natives, they usually bounce back from bushfires. In fact, some also thrive and start to spread new life needing the fire to assist with seeding.

 

As usual, the problem is humans interfering with nature, and living where they should not. Humans are so stupid they think they know better than nature.

[Skipalongcassidy]

It's not so much humans living where they shouldn't... it's more that they do not well manage the environment that they move into... Infrastructure never properly developed.

[thaibeachlovers]

Just now, Skipalongcassidy said:

It's not so much humans living where they shouldn't... it's more that they do not well manage the environment that they move into... Infrastructure never properly developed.

As I understand it, forestry hasn't been managed and undergrowth allowed to build up to the point that fires spread easily. Perhaps in a foolish attempt to save money by people that should know better.

In any event, building houses in a natural fire zone has never been a good idea, but people are often stupid when it comes to nature, thinking they know better.

[LosLobo]

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

For those unaware that fire is a natural part of the life cycle of Australian trees:

 

https://www.quora.com/Is-there-a-tree-in-Australia-that-naturally-sets-itself-on-fire-to-regenerate-itself-and-whats-the-name-of-it

A lot of Australian flora has actually become dependent on fire to germinate, and that isn’t going to evolve in a mere 50,000 years or so.

Australian Aborigines developed their burning practices in response to the environment, not causing it.

 

https://www.quora.com/Is-there-a-tree-in-Australia-that-naturally-sets-itself-on-fire-to-regenerate-itself-and-whats-the-name-of-it

Has Australia started replanting the trees that were burnt due to the recent massive fires?

One thing about Australian natives, they usually bounce back from bushfires. In fact, some also thrive and start to spread new life needing the fire to assist with seeding.

 

As usual, the problem is humans interfering with nature, and living where they should not. Humans are so stupid they think they know better than nature.

No one said that a small proportion of bushfires are natural.

 

Yet, your OP stated that 'bushfires are a natural event', without any qualification.

 

Your statement has the characteristics of classic anti-science propaganda where partly true assertions or exceptions are used to disingenuously taint facts.

 

Yes, global warming is caused by humans interfering with nature, and yes, the ones who think they know better are 'so stupid'.

 

[thaibeachlovers]

7 hours ago, LosLobo said:

No one said that a small proportion of bushfires are natural.

 

Yet, your OP stated that 'bushfires are a natural event', without any qualification.

 

Your statement has the characteristics of classic anti-science propaganda where partly true assertions or exceptions are used to disingenuously taint facts.

 

Yes, global warming is caused by humans interfering with nature, and yes, the ones who think they know better are 'so stupid'.

 

Glad that you agree with me on something.

Have a nice day.