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February 9, 2009

Australia's Wildfires: Climate Change or Crime?

Ben-Peter Terpstra
Australia, the dry continent, isn't immune to heat waves. I live in the sweaty southern hemisphere, not Alaska.

But, are heat waves always responsible for wildfires? Or is "crimate change" the kangaroo in the room? 

Under the subheading, "Recognizing how global warming has already affected the world" in Green Living for Dummies (2008) the authors -- including one BBC host, Liz Barclay -- note (p. 31): "In Australia and the South Pacific, nearly every year serious brushfire threats are issued around several of the major cities and towns due to a drop in rainfall." 

Proof of "global warming" Liz? And yet, one wonders what the authors think of famous bushfires, like Black Thursday, February, 1851, and others. Global warming? Half of Victoria, in truth, looked like Lucifer's kitchen.

In "Aussies set weather bureau record as mercury soars," by Miral Fahmy for Reuters Life! (Jan 14, 2009) we hear that: "Bushfires are common in drought-stricken Australia, the world's driest inhabited continent, with experts blaming the high temperatures on global warming." The "experts" or activists? The opinion polls or the scientific facts? Fahmy's feelings or natural history? 

In "Arson clues raise hopes of arrest," however, Mark Buttler from the Herald Sun, Melbourne, Australia informs (February 07, 2009):

A TASKFORCE of 30 officers has been established to catch the arsonist responsible for last week's devastating Gippsland bushfires.

And they say they have two leads in the hunt for whoever lit a blaze that destroyed 29 homes in the Delburn, Boolarra and Mirboo North areas.

Taskforce Ignis investigators yesterday released a photograph of a ute similar to one being sought by detectives.

Det-Sgt Brett Kahan of Morwell CIU said the ute portrayed is similar to a 1982 Toyota Hilux model seen in the vicinity of where the fire was started.

In "Arson likely cause of fire," the AAP reports too that (February 07, 2009. 11:55am):

POLICE believe a fire that destroyed between five and ten hectares of bushland in Sydney's Lane Cove National Park was deliberately lit.

Firefighters, with assistance from a water-bombing helicopter, brought the Friday evening blaze under control in about two hours before any homes were threatened.

"Police are investigating a suspiciously-lit bushfire at Lane Cove in Sydney's north-west yesterday," a NSW police statement said.

"Fire investigation officers believe the blaze was deliberately lit from a bush track at the end of Melrose Place."

Truly, the so-called "wildfires" one reads about in Australia, have more to do with soft laws. Our left-wing "justice system" releases fire bugs, while hysterical greens claim that "global warming's wildfires" kill people.

Other climate change tricks include:

- Singling out heat wave reports in some cities, while ignoring relatively cool cities and townships, in order to fuel green alarmism. Australia, after all, covers 4,772, 535 km (1,842, 675 sq miles) of land, so are campaigning reporters misleading foreign readers?

- Cherry picking fresh data, while ignoring the fact that Europeans settled here in 1788. In other words, our records are relatively young. And, in any case, isn't Australia's natural history of adverse conditions responsible for producing our amazing biodiversity?

- Deepening denial. Unwilling to admit that humans are not gods, and that we can't control the weather, addicts are emotionally invested in blaming capitalism for power meltdowns. Left-wing politicians now attack the Industrial Revolution for their failures.  

- The martyr complex. Some morbidly obese people feel the times are hotter, but are they? I've chosen to have one bottom, instead of five, and that's why I'm less likely to groan about melting ice-creams.

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