Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Fires in Australia

Like many conspiracy theorists he has some good points.

The use of huge amounts of water for cotton farming and other purposes has certainly had a huge effect on the inland river systems. The Darling river, Australia's longest river, was navigable as far as Bourke in the 1800s. One could not even imagine it today. Other than having been deprived of a considerable amount of water the river is contaminated by fertiliser and pesticide run off (extensive aerial crop dusting is used on cotton), and the introduction of carp has wreaked havoc on the river ecosystem and caused the loss of native fish species. All in all a colossal case of mismanagement.

Unfortunately he confuses mismanagement and greed with conspiracy.

Accepted!!

It seems to me that there are many ways to meaningfully cut CO2 release but all of them have unacceptable socio-economic consequences that society is a long way from accepting.
I could make a list, including Australia stopping the export of coal. But that would bankrupt the nation.
Trading emission credits is fiddling whilst Australia burns.

A couple of points made by an Aussie friend of mine, now living in Canada, are interesting. Essentially he said that forest management policies, driven by the "eco-green" lobby have resulted in a build up of scrub and plant litter. This used to be eliminated by controlled burning when in the winter. But burning produces smoke and upsets the wild life, so it was stopped. Likewise in California, but made worse because of import of gum trees from Oz about 100 years ago in an effort to have faster growing timber. The gum trees got loose and spread but were not suitable for commercial felling while being much more oily and thus burnable than the native trees. Indeed, most species of gum tree need low temperature fires to set their seed: the trees are largely unaffected by small fires. So, by not doing what native australians and americans had done for years, in the name of conservation, we create far larger problems, and blame it on climate change. Yes, climate change is a contributory factor, but our social stupidity is a far greater cause.

Clarkson demonstrating once more what a complete crass asshole he is Australian devastation

There are better ways for him to keep his mug on the front page, maybe a large contribution to the Aussie fire fighters.

100% agree, probably the best summary of the video.

This NASA shot and Europe graphic really brings it home the scale of this disaster for you folk out there.

Aboriginal "fire stick farming" actually altered the Australian landscape. Traces of ash layers in Lake sediments can be dated back to the arrival of humans in the region. When early explorers moved out from Sydney they referred to the forest as open forest, This is thought to have meant large but spaced trees with grass or undergrowth separating them. The Aboriginals periodically burned and build up of fire dangerous undergrowth in seasons when it was safe to do so. This also encouraged fresh grass growth to feed the kangaroos that can breed prolifically in good seasons.

The explores Hume and Hovell set out from Sydney in 1824 with 3 horses, 5 bullocks, and 2 wagons. They arrived near the present site of Geelong in 11 weeks. This included crossing several rivers including a flooded Murrumbidgee. They took a more westerly route through easier country to return in only 5 weeks. Clearly this would have been impossible if they had had to hack their way through dense bush for part of the journey. A good deal of the trip is still open farming country today but as anyone who has ever driven down the Hume Highway could tell you a good part of the first few hundred kilometres out of Sydney is thickly forested today.



Map showing the out and return routes taken by Hovell and Hume.

Just to add perspective for all the rabid greens bashers accusing them of stopping Hazzard reduction burns and making the fires worse, see the below article.

=68.ARDGTrADRmVrdf13_-MD0ylEmUkeMAq...mQ&__tn__=kCH-R]Fire and rescue post

Horrific.But not actually a NASA Photo but a " 3D visualization” of the Australian fires by Anthony Hearsey, “an image maker who specialises in photography, retouching and creative imaging,” which was compiled from NASA satellite data collected across the span of a month.Many postings of this image included a disclaimer noting that the visualization encompassed “all the areas which have been affected” by fires in Australia, but that “not all the areas are still burning”:

Either way it is very worrying & the impact for all of us but especially the locals is terrible.