The world has made the link between Australian coal, fires and climate   

January 4, 2020
Sydney Morning Herald

With our south-east coast aflame, our dead uncounted, our holiday beaches rendered into evacuation zones; with our queues for water, fuel, food and for simple escape, Australia now has the world’s attention.

In international eyes, our leaders have been found wanting not only in planning for such a catastrophe, and not just for the failure of some to match the tenacious heroism of our volunteers, but for their refusal to accept the catastrophic reality of climate change and its link with the burning of coal.   


A headline in The Washington Post on Friday morning Australian time bluntly captured Scott Morrison’s humiliation upon visiting Cobargo hours earlier: “Australia’s Prime Minister visited families devastated by the wildfires. It did not go well.”

In the same paper, a caption on the video footage of volunteer firefighters declining to shake the PM’s hand read: “Australians resist, shun Prime Minister amid deadly wildfires.”


At the very same time, The New York Times was reporting that “the fires have fueled anger at Australia’s Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, who has downplayed the role of global warming, opposed measures to combat climate change and rejected additional funding for firefighters. After widespread ridicule, last month he cut short a vacation during the crisis, a trip that critics said showed he did not take the disaster seriously enough.”   


It quoted the angry Cobargo resident who told him in front of TV cameras on Thursday, in what will surely be some of the best remembered footage of Morrison’s prime ministership: “You won’t be getting any votes down here buddy. You’re out son.”

The German broadcaster DW noted that locals had called Morrison an “idiot” and described the criticism he had received for his Christmas holiday to Hawaii.

In America, CNN carried a report that said: “Experts say climate change has worsened the scale and impact of the fires, and many have accused the Morrison administration of doing little to address the climate crisis. In December, a woman dumped the remnants of her fire-ravaged home in front of the Australian Parliament, accusing Morrison and lawmakers of failing to act.”

When he saw the footage of Morrison’s reception in Cobargo, English broadcaster Piers Morgan, normally a reliable friend to populist conservatives, tweeted “he got what he deserved ... absolutely unconscionable for a Prime Minister to holiday in Hawaii as his nation burns”.

By now, NSW Emergency Services Minister David Elliott, at the time of writing still declining to take calls as he returns from a European jaunt that began after the deaths of NSW volunteer firefighters, must feel some relief that he has no international profile.


In truth though, the world began to pay attention to the Australian conflagrations and its climate change recalcitrance even before the excruciating footage of Morrison’s visits to firegrounds leaked over the wires. On New Year’s Eve, New York Magazine published a piece about lamenting the global response to the fires that likened Morrison to Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro in embodying climate change denial. Two days later, The Economist noted Morrison’s “lethargic approach to climate change”.

On December 23, Al Jazeera reported: "Australia's government is resisting growing calls for a more ambitious response to climate change, even as the country battles devastating bushfires triggered by record temperatures that have sent air pollution to critical levels."

From 2015 and nothings changed.

"Forest fuel levels have worsened over the past 30 years because of "misguided green ideology", vested interests, political failure and mismanagement, creating a massive bushfire threat, a former CSIRO bushfire scientist has warned.
Victoria's "failed fire management policy" is an increasing threat to human life, water supplies, property and the forest environment, David Packham said in a submission to the state's Inspector-General for Emergency Management.
And he argued that unless the annual fuel reduction burning target, currently at a minimum of 5 per cent of public land, "is doubled or preferably tripled, a massive bushfire disaster will occur. The forest and alpine environment will decay and be damaged possibly beyond repair and homes and people [will be] incinerated."
He said forest fuel levels had climbed to their most dangerous level in thousands of years. "

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/bushfire-scientist-david-packham-war...

It also applies to Queensland and NSW.

Sir lastnail wrote on Jan 5^th, 2020 at 12:40pm:


HAARP........................?

Sir lastnail wrote on Jan 5^th, 2020 at 12:40pm:



Like other years it is spotty.

ahhhh the Washington Post making the best of a bad situation   who would have thought...

of course its all Australias fault   everyone knows that....we are the only country in the WHOLEWIDE world who sells COAL....and we are too bloody greedy to ruin our economy.....we put mens jobs ahead of the WORLD   so these fires serve us right...


good one crook....you sure do not like your country do you?

lee wrote on Jan 5^th, 2020 at 1:47pm:


Jeez that's a good scientific word for it isn't it. It's spotty LOL

What a load of crap! These fires are as large as they are for two reasons - the drought and a lack of hazard reduction burning to reduce fuel loads in the bush. If we'd had a decent amount of rain 6-7 months ago, followed up with a serious campaign of burning off fuel loads, these fires would be considerably less destructive and possibly more controllable. Australia is one of the driest, most arid countries in the world. Droughts just happen. Some are worse than others. It's just a fact of life in this country. Nothing to do with global warming.

lee wrote on Jan 5^th, 2020 at 3:30pm:


So you call yourself a fire fighter and want to blame back burning and fuel reduction etc.  Well according to Daniel Andrews who was asked this very question it's not as simple as that simply because the foliage build up is so dry due to climate change and drought that setting fire to it risks burning other peoples homes down which has happened in the past ! And this is one of the reasons that little back burning is able to be done. But of course being a fire fighter you should have known this which leads me to suspect that you are a class 1 bullshit artist and liberal stooge like the rest of your mates on this forum.