redhotswami
Blue Crack Addict
Wow, it's really difficult for me to even fathom the rate at which this is spreading. My heart goes out to everyone affected and potentially affected. That's really scary just to try and wrap my mind around it.
Australia Fires Point to Risks of Shifting Population
By PATRICK BARTA and RACHEL PANNETT
The wildfires that have so far claimed more than 170 lives in Australia highlight vulnerabilities in a country where the population is spilling into rural areas already under stress from sometimes extreme weather conditions.
Police suspect arsonists played a role in starting the blazes in Australia, one of the worst natural disasters in the country's history.
Officials struggled to contain the flames, which obliterated at least two towns over the weekend and continued to burn Monday in grasslands and forests north of Melbourne, the capital of the southeastern state of Victoria.
Rural Australian communities like the ones north of Melbourne have had a steady influx of residents in recent years as former city dwellers have snapped up farmland to escape urban hassles without having to move too far.
Such newcomers are less familiar than longtime rural residents with precautions needed to prevent wildfires and are less prepared to escape when fires occur, Australian bushfire experts say.
Many rural areas in Australia may be more fire-prone than before -- a phenomenon some scientists attribute to climate change. Since 1950, Australia's temperatures have risen and rainfall has declined in population centers, including parts of western and southeastern Australia. The scorched area around Melbourne has suffered from drought for roughly a decade, leaving grass and trees there dry and making it easier for flames to spread.
Although Australia has always had wildfires, "climate change and drought are altering the nature, the ferocity and the duration of the bushfires," says Gary Morgan, chief executive of the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre, an organization that manages bushfire research efforts in Australia.
Abnormal conditions over the weekend are at least partly to blame for the fires. Temperatures soared to record highs, and humidity levels dropped to unusually low levels.
While the underlying weather patterns that led to the heat -- and some fires -- wasn't unusual, "it has never been that severe before," says Andrew Sullivan, a scientist at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Australia's national science agency.
Some scientists and environmentalists discount links to climate change, noting Australia has always had extreme weather, especially in rural regions. And while many scientists say the number of wildfires has increased, data on such phenomena are incomplete.
The disaster is prompting environmentalists to step up calls for action. Australia is the biggest per-capita polluter in the developed world, primarily because it relies heavily on abundant reserves of low-cost coal for power plants.
When Prime Minister Kevin Rudd swept to power in November 2007, he had pledged to improve Australia's environmental credentials, setting a long-term target to reduce emissions by 60% from year-2000 levels by 2050. However, he has softened his stance in light of the world-wide economic slowdown and the costs such goals would entail.
Grisly details continued to emerge from the fires, with the latest death toll Tuesday morning in Australia at 173. Firefighters and forensics investigators blocked off many areas, including the town of Marysville, a village of 600 or so people that was almost totally incinerated over the weekend, leaving a dozen or more people dead.
Many bodies found in the region were burned beyond recognition. Some were near abandoned vehicles, as people were apparently trapped by flames as they tried to get away. Dead animals littered roads. The fires destroyed more than 750 houses and scorched more than 815,000 acres of land, according to news reports.
Weather conditions improved Monday, with cooler air, which may help slow the fires' spread. But thousands of firefighters were still battling 10 or more major blazes with expectations that the death toll would continue to rise as more bodies are found.
Survivors recounted tales of near-death experiences. Some hid in creek beds or dived into reservoirs to escape the flames.
Andrew Wallace, a 45-year-old property consultant with a vineyard near one of the affected areas, says he could see smoke from the fires early Saturday morning. Then, "this absolutely massive wind" swept across the area, he says, unsettling cows and sending kangaroos scampering across the paddocks. A fireman in the area advised him to get out quickly, which he did. "You could see the whole of the mountain was ablaze," he recalls.
Mr. Wallace's property was spared. But the flames destroyed many homes around his vineyard, leaving several people dead.
Reading the story Earnie posted, I can definitely see where this could be a problem. For sure, I'd be careful to learn and follow any recommended landscaping and home outfitting procedures if I moved to a fire-prone area, but it would never occur to me that for instance I needed to look out for "fireballs the size of a car" unless someone made a point of warning me about them. I didn't realize how highly flammable eucalyptus trees are either. Then again, it sounds like at least in this case, plenty of 'old-timers' who knew exactly what to do and what to watch for weren't able to make it regardless.Such newcomers are less familiar than longtime rural residents with precautions needed to prevent wildfires and are less prepared to escape when fires occur, Australian bushfire experts say.
I was in Wedderburn all weekend for a cricket tournament, which I think is about half an hour north of Bendigo. We played Strathewen in the competition. They probably all lost friends and family.
This is completely unfahtombale. These pictures and stories are just.
My cousins spent their entire childhood growing up in Marysville. It was a beautiful little town, I was there for a wedding not all that long ago. And now the place has been literally burnt to the ground.
This is not a fucking bushfire. This is literally hell on earth. Fires don't leave places looking like they've dropped a fucking atomic bomb.
Speaking of wildlife, this is one of the most simultaneously adorable and depressing photos ever:
Speaking of wildlife, this is one of the most simultaneously adorable and depressing photos ever:
Speaking of wildlife, this is one of the most simultaneously adorable and depressing photos ever:
Speaking of wildlife, this is one of the most simultaneously adorable and depressing photos ever: