Enige persoon wat sulke tipe brande stig, is kwaadwillig en terroriste, wat die land saboteur, die mense wat daar woon, of besighede en veral al daardie diere se dood veroorsaak het met opset uitwis – dalk iemand wat gestuur word om dit te doen. Hoeveel skade was nie aan huise aangerig wat tot op die grond afgebrand het. Daar is mense wat hul lewens verloor het as gevolg van die terreurdade. Dit het niks met klimaatverandering te doen nie. Vorige jare was daar ook sulke tipe brande wat handuit geruk het, ook in ander lande, waar dit as terreurdade geklassifiseer word. Dis persone wat die weerpatroon van Australie baie goed ken, en die winde wat die vure aandryf gebruik om algehele uitwissing te bewerkstellig.
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2019/2020 FIRE SEASON DEATH TOLL
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‘Arson is not caused by climate change’: Row breaks out over real cause of Australia’s bushfires after it emerges more than 180 people have been arrested over blazes in the past year.
A row has broken out over the cause of Australia’s deadly bushfire crisis, with Liberal MP Craig Kelly claiming that ‘arson is not caused by climate change’.
The MP, who is known for his climate change skepticism, put forward his opinion on why the country is gripped in a fire emergency during an appearance on ABC’s RN Breakfast show.
‘Unprecedented’ numbers of people had been arrested and charged with arson offences, he claimed. ‘The arson is not caused by climate change.’
The claims of arson have already become a political battleground, with some politicians and commentators seizing on them to argue that the impact of climate change has been overstated.
Todd Starnes, a conservative talk show host in the US, also leaped on the arson arrests to make a similar argument.
‘It turns out – climate change has nothing to do with the humanitarian crisis unfolding Down Under,’ he said.
More than 180 people have been arrested accused of fire-related offences since the beginning of 2019, including 24 in NSW during the current horror fire season which has left 25 dead and destroyed more than 2,000 homes.
On the New South Wales south coast, where at least nine people have died since the fire season picked up in October, 29 blazes have been deliberately lit.
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In Queensland, police have arrested 101 people accused of starting bushfires, 69 juveniles and 32 adults.
Five people were arrested for allegedly setting bushland alight in Tasmania – and a further 10 in South Australia.
Meanwhile in Victoria, where locals have experienced some of the most catastrophic conditions the nation has ever seen, 43 people were charged with firebug offences.
‘Police are well aware that we need to take action against people, whatever that might be, in this time it is particularly a heightened risk of fire activity and we’ve seen the devastation it causes,’ NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys said on Tuesday.
‘We make no apologies for being so vigilant about that.’
Mitch Parish, a former arson squad detective, said the international frenzy surrounding the bushfire crisis would only increase a ‘vanity arsonists’ desire to light an inferno.
‘It’s got to the stage where they’re seeing all the publicity on the fires … and they get bit of a buzz because of all the attention,’ Mr Parish said.
‘People get very emotional and passionate (about fires) and feel a lot of power because it’s a very destructive force.’
NSW Rural Fire Service volunteer Blake Banner was charged with lighting seven fires in the south coast region.
The 19-year-old was allegedly spotted leaving a location as a fire spread rapidly and arrived at a fire ground to help put out a blaze before any of his fellow volunteers on another occasion, police say.
He was granted bail and intends to fight the accusations.
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So far, more than 10 million hectares of Australian land has been burned.
It’s estimated that as many as 8,400 koalas have perished in fires on the mid-north coast of NSW and Kangaroo Island in South Australia has lost over 50% of their koala population This is a devastating blow for an iconic species already in decline, and these bushfires have the potential to hasten koalas’ slide towards extinction in eastern Australia.
Koalas could be extinct in the wild in eastern Australia in as little as 30 years due mainly to ongoing excessive tree-clearing for agricultural and urban development and climate heating triggered bushfires that destroy koala habitat, that potentially accelerate the extinction timeline.
But all hope is not lost. Help is urgently needed for the national emergency fund to help raise $30 million to deliver:
• Wildlife response – including partnering with wildlife response organisations, communities and scientists nationally for a swift and effective response and recovery at scale.
• Habitat restoration – including restoring native forests and damaged wildlife habitat, stopping deforestation, cultivating habitat connectivity, core habitat and Indigenous and rural fire management.
• Future proofing Australia – including driving innovative solutions to help mitigate climate change, driving climate event preparedness, species adaptation and long-term wildlife and nature conservation efforts towards securing Australia’s natural resources for people and nature.ntense thunderstorms have brought hail and strong rains to some regions of Australia, where bushfires have been burning at an unprecedented scale.
Farmers and firefighters alike celebrated the rain, which has helped disperse smoke in Melbourne and could dampen bushfires. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology, however, has been weary to celebrate, calling the thunderstorms a “double edge sword.” The storms have ushered in a host of new problems like flooding while exacerbating old ones; lightning strikes have sparked at least two new fires in the Great Otway National Park.
“Unfortunately with lightning strikes, it’s not always the next day they pop up,” Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. “They can smolder around in trees and in root systems for a couple of days and pop up under drier, hotter conditions.”
The bushfires in Australia have burned an estimated 15.6 million acres since July 1, which the government has struggled to contain despite international support. At least 24 people have died, millions of animals have perished and people across the country have been forced to flee their homes, thousands of which have been set ablaze.
The thunderstorms also bring further problems. On Thursday, three inches of rainfall caused flooding and damage to parts of Melbourne with the city receiving a month’s worth of rain in the span of a few hours. In NSW, 10,000 households and businesses lost power due to thunderstorms.
*13 January 2020https://time.com/5766374/australia-bushfires-thunderstorms/
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MORE INFORMATION
Australia fires – State of Disaster
Bush-fires – Arson (deliberately)
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