Guest essay by Eric Worrall
A year on from large bushfires which activists have blamed on climate change, some bushfire survivors are upset Australia hasn’t abandoned fossil fuel. But there is no firm evidence climate change is making Aussie bushfires worse.
One year since Australia’s devastating wildfires, anger grows at climate change ‘inaction’
Feb. 5, 2021, 2:17 AM AEST / Updated Feb. 5, 2021, 3:38 AM AEST
By Nick Baker“I feel ashamed of our country as it’s allowed some sort of short-term cynical politics to prevent proper climate action,” one survivor said.
SYDNEY — Not long after Jack Egan’s home burned down during Australia’s “Black Summer” wildfires a year ago, he made a life-changing decision.
At 60, Egan quit his job so he could spend his days campaigning for stronger action on climate change, a national and global challenge he said was “akin to a war.”
“I was working quite happily in aged care … but the fires caused me to devote the rest of my life to volunteer on climate action. I took an early retirement and that’s what I do full time now,” he said.
Egan, whose property in Rosedale on the country’s south-east coast has still not been rebuilt, recalled how “the fires had a behavior that was new to Australia, or new to me at least … and the length of the fires — months — was really shocking.”
February marks one year since Australia’s catastrophic wildfire season started to ease, after leaving 34 people dead and torching at least 18 million hectares of land (nearly 44.5 million acres). It was, in the words of one state premier, “the most devastating natural disaster in living memory.”
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Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/one-year-australia-s-devastating-wildfires-anger-grows-climate-change-n1256714
I’m sorry for Jack Egan’s loss, but frankly if you live in the Aussie bush and your don’t want your home to burn, you need to clear the area around your house. The New South Wales Fire authority recommends all trees within 10m (30ft) of your home be cleared, and other vegetation be cleared to 50m.
Going by the picture at the top of the page, and I’m assuming this is a picture of the remains of Egan’s home, it looks like Jack Egan’s home was closely surrounded by tall, highly flammable eucalyptus trees. I may be wrong, but I do not think Egan followed NSW fire authority bushfire safety guidelines.
In addition, Mr. Egan appears to have been a committed climate activist before the loss of his home. According to the ABC, “Mr Egan’s car, fitted with the climate change sign, survived the blaze while the house was destroyed.”
If Mr Egan wants to save people from future bushfires, perhaps he should consider campaigning for people to be more conscious of bushfire safety and preparedness, instead of trying to leverage his personal tragedy to convince people to support useless renewables.
Note: Professor Andy Pitman who created the slide above later claimed he misspoke, claimed he meant to say there is no “direct” link between climate change and drought.
There is no evidence whatsoever. Firm or otherwise.
Very sad to have lost his house. Also sad to have been taken in by propaganda dressed as science so that one attributes a great loss to the wrong cause. Imaging trying to either clear the land and make property loss less likely, or fight the fires that threaten your life and property without fossil fuels. Imagine trying to rebuild without cheap reliable energy. Imagine rebuilding, clearing the trees, and taking up residence again only to have your house burn down when you recharging Tesla lights up.
Speaking of cognitive dissonance:
LA DA argues that it’s immoral to hold those under 18 to the full consequences of their crimes, since their cognitive abilities aren’t fully developed.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/california-double-murder-parole-prosecutors
On the other hand, another Democrat finds it incomprehensible that dropping the voting age to 16 is considered controversial.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pressley-kendi-voting-age-16
Many people here Australia insist on living in exactly those places where bushfires occur and then expect others to come straight away to save them when the inevitable happens (and the rescuers arrive in fossil fuelled vehicles). After their homes burn down they are back almost immediately to rebuild in the exact same places.
There’s an irony about this sort of thing. Tree-changers as we call them are often greens. They build a house in the bush surrounded by eucalypts, and rejoice in the lush bushland. They don’t seem to understand that the Australian bush is made to be burned, and that the eucalypts use fire for propagation.
So every dry summer some tree-changers get their houses burned and they wail about climate change.
The Federation Drought between 1896 and 1903 was very similar to last year’s fire season. The same areas burned. But if you look at Longstaff’s painting “Gippsland, Sunday night, February 20th, 1898” you’ll see the understory is well cleared. They knew what eucalyptus forest was like, yet even with the clearing the fires were so intense that ships at sea couldn’t see where they were going due to the smoke from the bushfires.
Maybe Mr Egan can explain to us how the Federation Drought could’ve happened when pCO2 was less than 300 ppmV?
It was, in the words of one state premier, “the most devastating natural disaster in living memory.”
And that is exactly what the problem is, thinking “in living memory” is indicative of anything concerning Earth’s climate. Where did these folks get “educated”? It appears all they “know” is what they, or acquaintances experience in their local part of the world, or what the MSM, or enviro-groups tell them regarding places they can’t imagine or visit such as the Arctic and Antarctic. No clue to the past. No history, no geology, no interest in how the world works? Just what happened this week, last year, in their lifetime? No wonder we have leaders who are Bill McKibben stupid…
But if we do more about climate change, reduce CO2, build more wind and solar intermittent power generators, add more batteries, shut down the coal and gas fired power stations. He’ll see a reduction in insurance, less plant growth and a huge increase in value of his house. No risk what-so ever again of huge bush fires where he lives. Because we all know they are caused by increases of atmospheric CO2 and we never had bush fires when CO2 levels were <300ppm. Believe that, I’ve got a bridge to sell…
“Aussie Bushfire Survivor Complains”
The correct Australian term is “whines“.
“whinges..”
We live in a rural area in SE Australia (NE Victoria specifically). Our strategy is no eucalypts within 100 metres of the house and wet garden around the house. All eucalypts on the North to NW quarter have been removed and the area planted as an orchard. We have a Dam, a 6.5 HP fire pump and 90,000 Imp Gallons of fresh water stored with a second Fire Pump. Even with this we are only moderately safe. The only factor we can manage is fuel.
Do you take cash, checks, or bitcoin?
He thinks he’s “green” but he lives out in the middle of a forest.
That’s not green.
Unless he’s a farmer, or otherwise producing off the land, it would be much “greener” for him to move back to the city.