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Is Australia screwed?

Geckko said:
Nice map. Australia is a big place. There are rainfall deficiencies in some parts of the continent at all times.

But do a quick mental calculation of the relative area of your map that is white - plentiful rain over the 8 month period by historical standards - compared with the red/pink parts.

Australia is not in drought And has not been for some time.

Some years back on this thread posters were insisting that drought would continue, agriculture would suffer badly, desalination plants would be needed for water supply. All of those predictions and claims have proven to be wrong.
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Good thing that droughts are well in the past. :rolleyes:

http://www.theage.com.au/environmen...n-sydneys-western-suburbs-20130910-2ti3i.html

City office workers might have complained about smoke in their eyes and nostrils on Tuesday afternoon but on Sydney's north-western fringe, firefighters were engaged in a running battle to save lives and homes as the summer bushfire season kicked off with terrifying scenes.
With temperatures over 30 degrees, fires broke out and moved quickly, with north-westerly winds turning otherwise containable grass fires into dangerous, fast-moving infernos.
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Parts of Victoria are in drought, and fire authorities fear we are in for a bad summer.

But according to Geckko, we have nothing to worry about.
 
Geckko said:
That there is now abundant rain:

All water supplies are comfortably high.

The much talked about desal plants have all - all been mothballed without ever bring used after billions spent on their construction.

The substantive point is clear. Exaggeration, over-confidence and erroneous conclusions caused bad policy and massive waste.

Let's learn from the mistake.
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We survived the last El Nino, so we don't need to do anything at all to prepare for the next one... Yep, thats learning from our mistakes.
 
atecom said:
We survived the last El Nino, so we don't need to do anything at all to prepare for the next one... Yep, thats learning from our mistakes.
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we need to do a fair bit......but for Jeebus sake not desalination. It is so expensive, Bottled electricity is what it produces.... We would be better of importing bottled water.
 
Thanks for resurrecting this thread. I wonder where Geckko has gone?

Not only the unprecedented, unseasonal bushfires in NSW, but the droughts in the normally soggy North Queensland.

Climate change deniers are looking really stupid, and it's no wonder they have disappeared.

Geckko, you around?
 
Environment Minister Greg Hunt has condemned as politicising a ''human tragedy'' attempts to link the bushfires with the need for greater action on the climate.
Amid concern among environment groups that the ferocious fires before the start of summer were part of a pattern of increasing extreme weather events, Mr Hunt's office dismissed questions about the need for a more ambitious climate policy.
After Greens deputy leader Adam Bandt provoked controversy by linking the risk of bushfires to Mr Abbott's plan to scrap the carbon tax, Mr Hunt said no one should politicise a tragedy.
''There has been a terrible tragedy in NSW and no one anywhere should seek to politicise any human tragedy, let alone a bushfire of this scale,'' he said.
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Fairfax Media asked Mr Hunt's spokesman whether the Coalition was concerned that bushfires in October were part of a pattern of more extreme weather events, and whether this demanded a stronger climate policy.
The spokesman replied: ''We support the science on climate change and have a policy to reduce Australia's emissions, without the need for a costly carbon tax.''
A leaked draft of an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report due out next year says climate change will increase the likelihood of bushfires in Australia, according to media reports.
''Climate change is expected to increase the number of days with very high and extreme fire weather,'' the document reportedly states. It says fire management in Australia ''will become increasingly challenging''.
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The "Direct Action" plan, that spends only $600 million in the first year, and shuts down the existing commision to spend $10Billion? This is from the same party that exploited the misery of asylum seekers relentlessly for political gain.
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He said he “looked up what Wikipedia” says about bushfires and it was clear they were frequent events that had occurred during hotter months in Australia since before European settlement.
Mr Hunt said he accepted the science of climate change and need for action, but the Bureau of Meteorology had warned against making any direct link between global warming and natural disasters.
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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...o-climate-change/story-e6frg6xf-1226745787944

Spring, not really the hotter part of the year. That is what is so unusual about these fires.


Very little rain.
Unusually high temperatures in central Australia as the source for the unusually high temperatures in NSW.
Unusually strong winds to blow the heat over and fan the fires.


All consistent with Global Warming. People seem to find comfort in the idea that no climate related disaster can be directly blamed on Global Warming. That's because it doesn't work like that, Global Warming puts the weather on steroids. That is why we had fires that were described as 'unprecedented'.

So how does our Environment Minister sort out what is happening? He looks up Wikipedia. :eek::eye-poppi:boggled::rolleyes::(
 
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Add this to the list of evidence, another record, this time low moisture levels in the soil. Perfect for helping a fire along.

The landmark study by the Climate Council - the independent organisation established after the Abbott government abolished the Climate Commission in September - warns of increasing days of extreme fire danger in future across south-eastern Australia.
....
'South-eastern Australia is experiencing a long-term drying trend. In NSW, soil moisture levels have been at record low levels now for a number of months. More intense and frequent hot weather, as well as dry conditions, increases the likelihood of extreme fire weather days.''
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Exhibit "A" from denier central.

ONE of Australia's top climate scientists says it's a "no brainer" that rising temperatures have made bushfires more likely, but the current NSW fires cannot be directly attributed to climate change. - See more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-...y-fngw0i02-1226746915274#sthash.IgoyS9Aw.dpuf
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For some reason they think that vindicates them, it does the exact opposite. It is more likely that NSW had these fires because of global warming, and it is more likely they were more dangerous because of global warming. Just saying "we can't say this fire was directly caused by global warming" isn't really any comfort at all.
 
a_unique_person said:
Exhibit "A" from denier central.For some reason they think that vindicates them, it does the exact opposite. It is more likely that NSW had these fires because of global warming, and it is more likely they were more dangerous because of global warming. Just saying "we can't say this fire was directly caused by global warming" isn't really any comfort at all.
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I have read your link a couple of times. I cannot find any denial of climate change in the linked story, except the inferred denial attributed to a fellow named Tony Abbott. From the quotes attributed to Steffen it appears that he is firmly of the opinion that climate change to a warmer climate is occuring. He seems to me to be providing a reasonable summary of the known facts relating to the current fires and was not in any way trying to provide *comfort*.
 
Steve said:
I have read your link a couple of times. I cannot find any denial of climate change in the linked story, except the inferred denial attributed to a fellow named Tony Abbott. From the quotes attributed to Steffen it appears that he is firmly of the opinion that climate change to a warmer climate is occuring. He seems to me to be providing a reasonable summary of the known facts relating to the current fires and was not in any way trying to provide *comfort*.
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I'm sorry, my accusation was directed at the politicians who took a perfectly reasonable statement by a scientist and twisted out to foot their own politically driven view of the world. Their 'out' is that since you can never day that any one extreme climate event was caused by global warming, they can then imply that global warming has and never will make any event a result of global warming.
 
Now the CFA disagrees with the Liberal Governments 'hear no evil' stance.

Victoria's Country Fire Authority is predicting larger and more severe fires because of climate change, warning emergency service workers will have less time to recover and prepare from one disaster to the next.
A CFA planning strategy document identifies climate change as a key threat, concluding there will be ''more record hot weather'', more heatwaves, more drought and less autumn and winter rain.
''The conditions for large and intense fires - low humidity, high winds and extreme temperatures - are likely to become more common in the future,'' it said.
The state and federal governments have largely dismissed the link between climate change and bushfires. But the strategy to prepare the authority for challenges likely to arise after 2025 concluded there was ''no doubt'' the atmosphere was warming.
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This would in turn mean less time for emergency services staff and volunteers ''to debrief, recover and prepare for the next emergency event and the next emergency season'', it said.
CFA chief Euan Ferguson (right), predicts climate change, including longer summers and more unpredictable weather, would ''mould'' the authority's future.
Greens deputy leader Adam Bandt triggered a storm of criticism from the federal government and on social media after linking this week's NSW bushfire disaster to climate change.
Victoria's Emergency Services Minister Kim Wells joined the attack, saying it was ''disgraceful'' that the fires had been used to pursue a political agenda.
Asked this week by Fairfax Media if he believed there was a link between fires and climate change, Mr Wells said: ''Sadly, history has shown us time and time again that bushfires are a part of this continent and that will always be the case.''
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Mr Wells, ask some experts for some advice for a change. On second thoughts, he has probably already asked them but their response doesn't fit in with the official Party Line.
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John Howard is showing signs of the onset of dementia.

http://resources.news.com.au/files/2013/11/06/1226753/906885-howard-speech.pdf

It is so wrong in so many ways, it is hard to know where to begin.

The title alone, "One Religion is Enough" makes one wonder if Howard is trying to POE himself.

The title has a go at Global Warming science for being like a religion, but, wait, Howard likes his xian religion, he doesn't want another one. It's quite alright for little Johnny to believe in an imaginary being up there in the sky, but not good enough for him when it comes to global warming. He has in fact looked at the evidence, by reading a book by someone as ignorant as him on a matter of science, and come to the conclusion that

From the speech.

I have always been something of an agnostic on global warming. I have never rejected, totally, the multiple expressions of concern from many eminent scientists, but the history of mankind has told me of his infinite capacity to adapt to the changing circumstances of the environment in which he lives.
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We have an "infinite" capacity to adapt? Really? The human race has nearly been made extinct more than once in the past. He also ignores the obvious fact that we are not the only species on the planet that has to deal with this issue. The idea that all that matters is that our species survices, the rest can go to hell is the kind of idea that only the truly ignorant and small minded like Howard can make.
 
Damien Evans said:
Melbourne just recorded its warmest July day ever, 23.3 celsius. Wouldn't look out of place in a London Summer, especially since thunderstorms soon followed.
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It was snowing in the Victorian Alps 10 days ago.

a_unique_person said:
http://resources.news.com.au/files/2013/11/06/1226753/906885-howard-speech.pdf

The title alone, "One Religion is Enough" makes one wonder if Howard is trying to POE himself.
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Actually the comparison is not too far fetched. Many make a belief in AGW central to their existence and impacts on everything they do.

a_unique_person said:
The title has a go at Global Warming science for being like a religion, but, wait, Howard likes his xian religion, he doesn't want another one. It's quite alright for little Johnny to believe in an imaginary being up there in the sky, but not good enough for him when it comes to global warming.
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And here you almost confirm it is a religion saying (effectively) that "John has his religion, why can't others have theirs".

a_unique_person said:
We have an "infinite" capacity to adapt? Really? The human race has nearly been made extinct more than once in the past.
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When were these occasions?
 
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