Quote:
Originally Posted by Constant Phil
Well he wouldn't be completely wrong in saying that because the Australian aborigines used to do controlled burns to stop this from happening.
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Australians do controlled burns now, but the key is "controlled" and the past 4 years at least have allowed for very few "controlled burns" because of weather conditions. Also, the only thing that used to control the Abbos fires was natural waterways, rivers, creeks and natural damp areas, these are all dried up now
For every person that dies in a bush fire here, 150 will die in the cities from respiratory problems caused by the smoke. That's a number out of my ass but it gives you an idea of the issue, I don't think Sydney has had an air quality day better than Bejing in 6 months.
And with those respiratory deaths, it makes zip difference if it's a controlled burn or a natural one... same effect.
Australian Government has 75 F35's on order from the American Military @ 12.5 billion and two water-bombing planes... duh. When the fires were at their peak, our prime minister was in Hawaii and the guy in charge of emergency services was in Europe, both on holidays, they only returned because of public pressure. Australia needs to spend more on better fire detection, fire fighting equipment and more trained personnel ... F35's can wait.
Anyways weather has cooled a bit and there has been some light rain, it won't stop the fires but it does give the firefighters some relief.
... Next up is Cyclone season in Northern Australia.