Random thoughts

[rbkwp]

so pleasing to see that rain in many famiar named places
bless your country

 

[seventiesdemon]

Australia has always been a dry continent where fire has played an important ecological role. But as our contributing writer Fred Pearce reports this week at Yale Environment 360, the latest massive conflagrations there are evidence that a hotter climate has thrust Australia into a new normal where fires will continue to burn on an unprecedented scale. The country is among the most exposed to the gathering pace of global warming. Last year, Australia experienced its highest recorded temperatures, 2 degrees Celsius above the early 20th century average — twice the global increase. And as Pearce writes, higher temperatures are ensuring that vegetation dries out faster and further in droughts, exacerbating extreme fire risk. Read his analysis.


with that said
it may be MORE IMPORTANT than ever for us to help relocate animals/plant life,to another weather/climate compatible country for preservation purposes
the British did that successfully several hundreds of years ago,with plants,KEW GARDENS,and Animals


Also at e360, journalist Sonia Shah reports on how with thousands of species on the move as the climate changes, a growing number of scientists are saying the dichotomy between native and alien species has become an outdated concept. Instead, they maintain, efforts must be made to help migrating species adapt to their new habitats. For decades, conservation biology has characterized the movement of species as potential invasions that could threaten local ecosystems, leading to policies aimed at strictly repelling newcomers. But scientists argue such strategies could actually threaten biodiversity as global temperatures rise. Climate-driven range shifts are “one of the only solutions for species to adapt to climate change,” says one ecologist. Read Shah’s article.

Australia has not "always been a dry continent" rb. Just like New Zealand has it's rainforests, Aus was covered from the far north to Tasmania in forest before the first arrivals. Remnants of these forests still exist in all states of Australia today, once they were all one.

What changed the wilderness to what exists today was the introduction of fire by humans.

This is from the Creative Spirits fb page. If you read the yellow section on this page it will let you know the Australian Wilderness, forests... were changed by the introduction of fire farming. Aboriginal land management & care

The land was changed by human intervention. The climate here has been changed by human intervention over thousands of years. Europeans turned up and multiplied it........every, every study undertaken since early times says this, and the new technology each time as the years go by backs up the one before..

The problem is....because of the thousands of years of burning, we are left now with what we have. Highly flammable Eucalyptus has taken more of a hold. The larger problem is, because of the slow deforestation, accelerated deforestation of the last 300 years has made it worse.........

It is impossible to land manage, or firestick farm ravines, gorges, and vast areas of bush in Australia....It never has been...fire has never ever ever been manageable in Australia. But because of the changes made to the landscape over thousands of years through human introduced fire.........it's only become worse. The above photo is just a snippet of what is out there.

We didn't understand the effects fire had on climate change thousands of years ago, nor 300 years ago, nor 100 years ago........how do you change thousands of years? Plant more trees...not Eucalyptus though.

The blue haze is caused by Eucalyptus oil in the atmosphere...highly flammable.

 

[rbkwp]

Australia has not "always been a dry continent" rb. Just like New Zealand has it's rainforests, Aus was covered from the far north to Tasmania in forest before the first arrivals. Remnants of these forests still exist in all states of Australia today, once they were all one.

What changed the wilderness to what exists today was the introduction of fire by humans.

This is from the Creative Spirits fb page. If you read the yellow section on this page it will let you know the Australian Wilderness, forests... were changed by the introduction of fire farming. Aboriginal land management & care

The land was changed by human intervention. The climate here has been changed by human intervention over thousands of years. Europeans turned up and multiplied it........every, every study undertaken since early times says this, and the new technology each time as the years go by backs up the one before..

The problem is....because of the thousands of years of burning, we are left now with what we have. Highly flammable Eucalyptus has taken more of a hold. The larger problem is, because of the slow deforestation, accelerated deforestation of the last 300 years has made it worse.........

It is impossible to land manage, or firestick farm ravines, gorges, and vast areas of bush in Australia....It never has been...fire has never ever ever been manageable in Australia. But because of the changes made to the landscape over thousands of years through human introduced fire.........it's only become worse. The above photo is just a snippet of what is out there.

We didn't understand the effects fire had on climate change thousands of years ago, nor 300 years ago, nor 100 years ago........how do you change thousands of years? Plant more trees...not Eucalyptus though.

The blue haze is caused by Eucalyptus oil in the atmosphere...highly flammable.

i believe so yes
Eucalyptus has always been a/the main cause of Australia's catastrophic fires
very highly combustible i believe
so sad
as i spent many an enchanting night sleeping under a ghost gum in Bowen Qld,in the day
never thought this would ever happen to/in Australia
in the same period a lady friend had given me a bottle of pure eucalyptus oil to be used as medical liniment, there industry ih Echuca/Vic had extracted
The blue haze is caused by Eucalyptus oil in the atmosphere...highly flammable.

 

[rbkwp]

NATURE
another of the better websites
- i reckon

Australian bush fires derail research
On top of the heartbreaking loss of lives and livelihoods, the Australian bush fires have interrupted research, destroyed equipment and hit vulnerable plant and animal populations to which researchers have dedicated their careers. At the same time, ecologists are preparing to make the most of the situation — by taking the opportunity to further suppress the populations of invasive species, for example.

Nature Index | 5 min read

Catastrophic Australian bushfires derail research
But scientists see chance to control invasive species and study ecosystem disruption.

Dyani Lewis

17 JANUARY 2020

Catastrophic Australian bushfires derail research

 

[rbkwp]

always thought
black holes were something different
but, hehave ..

Strange objects at the centre of the Galaxy
In this week’s Nature Podcast, we hear that researchers have uncovered a population of dust-enshrouded objects orbiting the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Galaxy. Plus, a London landmark’s height lends itself to a physics experiment, and generous behaviour in parrots.

Nature Podcast | 26 min listen
Subscribe to the Nature Podcast on iTunes, Google Podcasts or Spotify.

Podcast: Strange objects at the centre of the galaxy, and improving measurements of online activity

 

[rbkwp]

good
ideal time for them to start looking at dumping thatbone
its not going to genuinely change its stance
ie
AUSTRALIANS FIRST

Print Email Facebook Twitter More
ANALYSIS
Scott Morrison is facing bushfires, a grants saga and a perfect storm of political hopelessness
7.30
By Laura Tingle
Posted about 2 hours ago

PHOTO: Prime Minister Scott Morrison during a tour of the RFS headquarters in Sydney last month, (AAP Images: Joel Carrett)
RELATED STORY: The two climate change conversations we need to have at the same time
RELATED STORY: There's something particularly brazen about the latest example of pork-barrelling
RELATED STORY: What will it take to put these mega-fires out?
RELATED STORY: Play at Australian Open qualifying delayed over air quality concerns
RELATED STORY: 'I just couldn't breathe anymore': Aus Open player quits qualifier after coughing fit
RELATED STORY: Bridget McKenzie defends actions after audit finds 'biased' use of sports grants
Some rain, at last, started to fall on eastern Australia this week.

It didn't fall everywhere. And it didn't put out all the fires. But at least it de-escalated the sense that more catastrophe might be lurking only hours away for so many communities.

There was time to look around and survey the damage.

There was time to look around to see that, while the bushfires had destroyed 10 million hectares, and killed an estimated 1 billion animals, the drought had continued to get worse.

Driving through rural Australia, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish country hit by fires from country where even native vegetation has turned up its heels through lack of water.

Those dams on properties that still had water have dried up. More and more and more towns are becoming reliant on water being trucked in.

A perfect storm of political hopelessness is causing havoc for Morrison

 

[rbkwp]

we NZ have got plenty for you to rebuild Australia

Gondwana-era rainforest stand of nightcap oak devastated by unprecedented bushfire
ABC North Coast
By Joanne Shoebridge and Catherine Marciniak
Posted about an hour ago

PHOTO: The nightcap oak is as ancient as the Wollemi pine. (Supplied: Robert Kooyman)

Gondwana-era nightcap oak devastated by unprecedented bushfire

 

[rbkwp]

Mitigation or adaptation? When it comes to climate change, it's not a case of either/

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  While emissions reduction is crucial, we'll need to learn to adapt to climate change.
  
  (ABC Wide Bay: Brad Marsellos)
  Here's a ridiculously extreme best case scenario: everywhere in the world, we immediately cease all human made CO2 emissions. Right now. No emissions. Forevermore.
  
  Great! Problem solved! Right? Well, not quite.
  
  Climate change is a long, heavy, slow moving train crawling across decades. Even if we pull the emergency brake right now, we're not stopping for a while yet.
  
  I mean, in terms of warming trajectories, ceasing all emissions immediately would be a very good thing to do. The best science currently estimates that under this super extreme best case scenario we could probably keep warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels.
  
  But, even so — and especially if we shoot past 1.5 degrees and then 2 degrees, which is where the current trajectory takes us — the train has a hell of a distance to travel before it grinds to a halt.
  
  Whatever we do from here, we've locked in at least some amount of warming — and the climate impacts that come with it.
  
  
  
  Whatever we do from here, we've locked in at least some amount of warming — and the climate impacts that come with it.
  (AAP: Dave Hunt)
  We're already seeing these impacts. The devastating fire season we're currently choking our way through has played out against a background of just 1 degree of warming.
  
  Things are getting worse before they get better, and we need to be prepared. This is why adaptation is an essential component of any effective climate change strategy.
  
  
  Adaptation shouldn't be reduced to a talking point

The two climate change conversations we need to have at the same time

 

[rbkwp]

YouTube Still Monetizing, Promoting Climate Science Denial, Report Finds

 

[rbkwp]

thank goodness camels are more likely up nortth more,hoperfully not so many fires

 

[rbkwp]

Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images
RUPERT THE DAY
Climate change is forcing a rift in the Murdoch family
By Zoya Teirstein on Jan 16, 2020

daily dose of good news from Grist Subscribe To The Beacon
As wildfires spread across Australia last November, newspapers and television networks owned by conservative media tycoon Rupert Murdoch started pushing a false narrative: Arson, not climate change, was responsible for the crisis.

That wasn’t the only inaccurate claim being bandied about by Murdoch’s conservative news outlets in Australia and the U.S. while millions of acres burned and an estimated billion animals perished. Fox News spread the incorrect claimthat 200 arsonists had set Australia on fire. News Corp, the linchpin of Murdoch’s media empire, also pushed the false ideas that environmentalists were opposed to fire prevention measures and that this year’s fires were not out of line with what’s occurred in previous years. The latter claim is diametrically contrary to the science, which indicates rising temperatures are creating conditions ripe for prolonged mega-wildfires.

Murdoch is no stranger to criticism. In a recent op-ed, climate scientist Michael Mann called the mogul an “arsonist.” A six-month New York Times investigationfound the Murdoch family turned their outlets into “political influence machines” that “destabilized democracy in North America, Europe, and Australia.” In 2011, Murdoch was denounced left and right when a tabloid he owned called News of the World shuttered after employees hacked into a number of phones, including the device of a recent murder victim.

But it is unusual for Murdoch to catch heat from his own family. In a dramatic turn of events, a spokesperson for Murdoch’s son, James, said the scion felt “frustration” over the way his father’s business covered the crisis on Wednesday. James and his wife Kathryn Murdoch are “particularly disappointed with the ongoing denial among the news outlets in Australia given obvious evidence to the contrary,” according to the spokesperson’s statement, which was first reported by the Daily Beast. Murdoch’s decision to distance himself from his family’s views on climate are notable in no small part because he was recently in line to take over the company — his brother, Lachlan, got the gig — and is on the News Corp board of directors.

The spokesperson’s statement says that “Kathryn and James’ views on climate are well established,” and that’s true. As chief executive of Sky, James pushed the British television service to go carbon-neutral. He invited former vice president Al Gore to give a lecture on climate change at a Fox corporate retreat. Meanwhile, Kathryn is, by any definition, a climate advocate. She’s a trustee of the Environmental Defense Fund and Climate Central, and was the director of strategy and communications for the Clinton Climate Initiative for four years.

Now that James is no longer directly involved with his family’s company apart from sitting on News Corp’s board of directors, his comments will likely have little bearing on whether News Corp and Fox News continue to sow disinformation. But fans of HBO’s blockbuster TV drama Succession, a thinly veiled dramatization of the Murdoch family’s exploits, know the younger Murdoch’s public stand would make for extremely good television.


Climate change is forcing a rift in the Murdoch family

 

[rbkwp]

Australia’s climate change polarisation hampers long-term bushfire fixes
Published on 17/01/2020, 12:58pm
‘We need to re-invent and re-think the management of our landscape,’ say bushfire experts, warning adapting to climate change will require bipartisan political support

The aftermath of the fires in the Adelaide Hills, southern Australia. (Photo: Denisbin/Flickr)

By Chloé Farand

Like the fires that ravaged California, Australia’s bushfire crisis has exposed the difficulty of battling environmental hazards when politicians are split about how far to blame climate change.

As one of the world’s wealthiest nations struggles to tackle the blazes that have killed at least 28 people, the need to adapt to prolonged and more intense fire seasons has risen to a national priority.

Solutions to mitigate bushfire impacts will require more land management, community engagement and bipartisan political support at a time when climate change continues to be one of the most polarising issues in Australia, bushfire experts have told Climate Home News.


Australia's climate change polarisation hampers long-term bushfire fixes

 

[rbkwp]

did i say disasters in our region/the Pacific,prevalent

'It swept right over': Tuvalu inundated by waves whipped up by Cyclone Tino
5:33 pm on 18 January 2020
Share this

Debris swept in by the lagoon on Tuvalu's main island, Funafuti. Photo: Supplied / Aselu Lopati

Hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes in Tuvalu, with strong winds and giant waves churned up by Cyclone Tino causing extensive damage across the country.

Few of the country's 14 islands were spared damage, said Sumeo Silu, the director of the country's disaster management office. Two hundred people had been evacuated on main island Funafuti alone, he said, as reports of significant damage to infrastructure came in from outer islands.

"It's quite devastated," Mr Silu said.

Debris across the one main road on Tuvalu's main atoll, Funafuti. Photo: Supplied / Aselu Lopati

On Funafuti on Friday, the normally calm and shimmering lagoon was stirred into a raging muddy cauldron. In the tempest, two giant barges were shunted from their moorings onto the beach, said Semi Malaki, a local broadcaster.

"It was anchored in the main lagoon, it's on the shore now," he said.

 

[rbkwp]

WELCOME RAIN IN AUSTRALIA
floods preferable to firres
maybe not
but
a very good damn change,i must say from here
ENJOY

 

[rbkwp]

a very common NZ Native pigeon on island
so glad we dont suffer like fire ravaged neighbours Australia
i woul be absolutely devastated
bad enough when i went quite mental at my next door neighbour who insisted on building her home with big sliding commercial type window doors
so many KAKAPO birds flew into those clean windows knocked themselves out,and invariably died
i insisted with council help and her agreement,that we have removable screens in place
she happily paid/complied and we all lived happily ever after
15 years ago
shows what can happen when people try
not be ignorant/selfish/arrogant

A big 2019 for Kakapo Recovery
From Summer Times, 10:05 am on 17 January 2020
Share

Conservationists hit a series of milestones in 2019 as they boosted the numbers of some of the countries most endangered species. The most significant of which was the Kākāpō - as the population reached its highest point in seven decades.

It was a tremendous achievement for the Kākāpō Recovery Group and represented years of tireless work - but what does that work actually involve at what point do the human stand back, and let the green parrot fend for itself?

DOC Kākāpō Recovery Science Advisor Dr Andrew Digby joined Summer Times to explain more.

Kākāpō Photo: RNZ / Alison Ballance

 

[rbkwp]

btw
those birds were quite dumb
they would eat themselves silly
get quite punch drunk
eating the berries off my hedge, i got rid of the hedge,but let it grow again as food for them
anyway they got drunk
tried to swing around and fly home
were so fat and heavy with the berries
that they couldent gain height and BANG !!!
i know
i sat on my deck often,and saw it happen'sigh

 

[rbkwp]

wasent aware
just shows,whats reported/covered by media huh
all equally as important

same thing,our region


Fires in New Caledonia in 2019, worst year this century
7:11 pm on 18 January 2020
Share this

A stocktake of last year's fires in New Caledonia has found that 2019 was the worst year this century.

A grass fire between Queenstown and Arrowtown has been tackled. Photo: Photo / AFP

According to the the NGO Environment Observatory, there were 676 fires last year which destroyed 29,000 hectares of vegetation.

It notes that on New Caledonia's main island as much vegetation is burned as typically in all of France during its fire season.

Worst hit was the communes of the Northern Province, in particular the area around Ouegoa.

In the Noumea area, the fire near Mont-Dore destroyed 1,200 hectares.

The organisation says as a result, there is a risk of more erosion and the polluting of water supplies.

It says 58 species are at risk of extinction.

Last month, New Caledonia's Congress said a unanimous decision has been made to declare a climate emergency.

 

[rbkwp]

 

[rbkwp]

how about this
Trumpalike interference
wants everything perfect for you,its way duh

Menu
Family Adopts a New Dog Then Vet Sees It And Calls The Cops

Family Adopts a New Dog Then Vet Sees It And Calls The Cops - Celebs Pulse

 

[516778]

Poor Koala bears.
They don't deserve to die like that.