Support Australia!

[Melichoir]

I don't blame you for being cynical regarding politicians, there's a lot to be cynical about regarding them these days. But I can't see even local councils in areas effected by bushfires putting off controlled burns unnecessarily. I can't name a single party, right or left, in Aus that doesn't support controlled burns in some regard, it probably helps that the Aboriginal people have been doing controlled burns of their own here for centuries.

In regards to bush build up though, a lot of plantlife in Aus is used to getting very little water naturally and a good amount of the plants actually want to catch fire to promote new growth (looking at Eucalyptus trees in particular). They can grow very fast in very dry conditions especially after a fire. Kind of a bit funny when you consider the stereotype of all wildlife wanting to kill you in Aus, the plants also want us dead too apparently.

Yeah but that new growth happens after burns, not before. Before theres a 'long term' growth period to maximize trees. Theres a few species of tree that are like that so Im not surprised, though this would suggest to me that natural fires are part of the ecosystem, which means burns and brush clearing are definitely a necessity. As a post thought though, if the attribution is to global warming, its not in the sense of "Heating things up", and more in the sense of extended and enhanced wet/dry cycles. Meaning, a lot more rain means a lot more growth, followed by somewhat harsher drying out cycles, with it happening at a faster rate than lets say 100 years ago. Under this, I would think you would see more fires with greater intensity and frequency.

We're talking about Bush (the Australasian term for forest) rather than brush burning here, and I don't thing you realise just how bad the droughts have been over there. There is honestly not enough moisture there for fires to be safely burnt and controlled.

Build up of debris (Brush, Bushes, Trees, Dead organic matter that burns, etc) is reliant on growth. You dont get massive fires in the Sahara because, well, theres very little to burn due to very little growth. What Im suggesting is a few things. First, I think the drought is somewhat overstated in the context of global warming, as records seem to show that there has been more rainfall in australia averagely comparing the 1900s to the 2000s. Or at the least rainfall has been hitting deeper inland more frequently than before. This would make sense for the fires because this rainfall promotes growth which then means when it does get dry over a few year period, you have more growth become potential fuel for a fire. If it goes on to long, however, that fuel eventually breaks down, (but at that point youre looking more at a desert in the sense of dust and sand....). This would suggest that the drought was preceded by decent conditions and rainfall to push growth and has not been going on for a great period of time (10+ years). It would also suggest that if this has been a long term problem, the likely hood that there was no period of time for controlled burning or brush clearing (Im using brush clearing very broadly here, but to be accurate, its removal of debris that burns. This includes fall of from bushes and trees or any other local flora,) is not likely and that ideal times for that to happen were skipped over.

Point is, theres a lot of factors, and I think the overstating of "It's Global Warming" is missing or purposefully downplaying all the other factors involved in favor or a "This is the root of all evil, therefore this is all we should focus on" rather than "Theres a bunch of small things that added up to a big thing.".

There's a big asterisk that says Blizzard donates a maximum of USD $3 million from sales of their charity pet (the Dottie pet and plush of 2019).

This is even if theyre not being sneaky as hell about that. Wasnt it only like 6 months ago they made that competition and vowed to put in so much but didnt at first cause the player base donated more than what they said theyw ould and they just took the money and tried to run? Unless this is the same event and Im just crazy.

[Zephera]

Just making another quick post to link the annual climate statement from our Bureau Of Meteorology if anyone wants to read up on how hot and dry it was on average straight from our national weather service: http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/annual/aus/

Their temperature and rainfall averages comparison maps show that 2019 was the hottest and driest year for most parts of Australia.

[Melichoir]

Just making another quick post to link the annual climate statement from our Bureau Of Meteorology if anyone wants to read up on how hot and dry it was on average straight from our national weather service: http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/annual/aus/

Their temperature and rainfall averages comparison maps show that 2019 was the hottest and driest year for most parts of Australia.

2018 rainfall appears to been about average based on the graph data provided on the BOM website (at a glance admittedly). 2019 has been substantially lower, but this offset is a problem because it is an outlier in comparison to all the other data. If it's strictly a global warming issue, you should see there being an overall trend in lack of rainfall, much like you do see a trend in average temperature rises. In fact that graph for annual rainfall seems to suggest a gradual increase in rainfall. This is also a bit weird considering northern parts of Queensland had above average rainfall earlier in the year, and these are areas that are on fire currently. Also, typically the areas which are currently on fire are also areas that on average see the most rainfall, with far less rainfall hitting the interior. So with an average increase in rainfall over time nationally, a year with a severe offset in rainfall compared to past years, and zones that are suffering a lot of fire damage are areas with typically higher rainfall activity compared to the interior, Im not keen to chalk this up to it simply being a matter of only being global warming. At least not in the sense of "Everything is hotter and drier than before" as, again, Northern Queensland received above average rainfall earlier in the year and its also a fire zone currently. Ill concede that 2019 was extra dry overall, but I dont think thats painting an accurate picture unless Im missing something from the data provided.

If you also check out there decadal and multi decadal map regarding rainfall, it tends to show that theres more rainfall overtime, or rather rain is hitting more of the country than before when you look at it over a 100 year period. Im not saying there is no global warming, just again, that Im not keen on saying it's only global warming that the current situation is happening and nothing else is worth considering.

[Zephera]

2018 rainfall appears to been about average based on the graph data provided on the BOM website (at a glance admittedly). 2019 has been substantially lower, but this offset is a problem because it is an outlier in comparison to all the other data. If it's strictly a global warming issue, you should see there being an overall trend in lack of rainfall, much like you do see a trend in average temperature rises. In fact that graph for annual rainfall seems to suggest a gradual increase in rainfall. This is also a bit weird considering northern parts of Queensland had above average rainfall earlier in the year, and these are areas that are on fire currently. Also, typically the areas which are currently on fire are also areas that on average see the most rainfall, with far less rainfall hitting the interior. So with an average increase in rainfall over time nationally, a year with a severe offset in rainfall compared to past years, and zones that are suffering a lot of fire damage are areas with typically higher rainfall activity, Im not keen to chalk this up to it simply being a matter of only being global warming. At least not in the sense of "Everything is hotter and drier than before" as, again, Northern Queensland received above average rainfall and its also a fire zone currently. Ill concede that 2019 was extra dry overall, but I dont think thats painting an accurate picture unless Im missing something from the data provided.

If you also check out there decadal and multi decadal map regarding rainfall, it tends to show that theres more rainfall overtime, or rather rain is hitting more of the country than before when you look at it over a 100 year period. Im not saying there is no global warming, just again, that Im not keen on saying it's only global warming that the current situation is happening and nothing else is worth considering.

North Queensland, as well as most of the northern parts of Australia sits above the tropic of Capricorn so they don't get normal seasons, they get a wet season and a dry season with the wet corresponding with the rest of Australia's Summer and the dry corresponding with the rest of Australia's Winter. It's the part of the country that gets hit by cyclones and monsoons so that explains the bigger amount of rainfall there.

The nastiest bushfires currently burning typically fall within the regions on the map that had very much above average temperatures and very much below average rainfall. Good examples are the ones in NSW, Victoria, SA and southern Queensland.

I'm not accusing you of saying global warming isn't an issue though, just wanted to point out that the worst effected areas had a really rough time in 2019 regarding temperature and dryness.

[Nedkel]

They cant adjust hairstyles to fit on viera 7 moths after release and you expecting them to create a new mount in less than a week? Are you crazy!? xD
You should have predicted the fire catastrophe 3 years back in 2017 and then tell them, they need 2 years of development and 1 year of reading the feedback.

[frostmagemari]

There's a big asterisk that says Blizzard donates a maximum of USD $3 million from sales of their charity pet (the Dottie pet and plush of 2019).

They've always had a limit to their donation and considering that they've never reached that $3mil USD in since the launch of the very first charity pet; Yes, it can be said that they donate all the money to charity.

[Tatiana]

There's a big asterisk that says Blizzard donates a maximum of USD $3 million from sales of their charity pet (the Dottie pet and plush of 2019).

That's fine, if they even reach that limit it's still donating $3 Million that the organization/people/situation in need didn't have before. I see no problem with doing something like this, and I think it would be a pretty good idea although probably a charity pet would be more realistic, and not a mount.

[BroFists]

Can't they just borrow a laptop and open their house

[Iscah]

On the discussion regarding arson as the cause of fires (or not), ABC posted an article going into that in more depth.

https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2020-...cause/11855022

Particularly relevant to previous discussion:

This week, a NSW Police media release revealed 24 people had been charged over deliberately-lit bushfires this season.

However, the majority of suspected arson relates to small grass fires and rubbish bins set alight, which have inflicted negligible damage and burnt a tiny area compared with fires sparked by lightning.

It seems a bit odd how they're using "deliberately-lit bushfires" then saying the majority of them are grass fires, but maybe there's something in the exactly legal terminology or something.

Anyway, the core point is:

Only about 1 per cent of the land burnt in NSW this bushfire season can be officially attributed to arson

...and even then, the cause is still a separate issue to what drives the fire once lit.

Also, hazard reduction burns are not a straightforward answer - and our changing climate conditions are making it harder to find the right weather to conduct them.

https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2020-...ainer/11853366

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EDIT: a few extra links without waking up the thread again.

The Bureau of Meteorology's review of 2019's weather - floods, snow where we don't usually get it, and the driest year on record for an alarmingly large section of the national map:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-...remes/11852500

And another fact checker on the arson claims, which goes into more detail about what term legally means and where the numbers are coming from. (The Coalition/Liberals/Nationals are, despite the name, our conservative government.)
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-...risis/11865724

This also gives a solid explanation for the origins of the "almost 200" claimed statistic.

According to a January 6 statement released by NSW Police, since November 2019, legal action ranging from cautions through to criminal charges had been taken against 183 people in relation to bushfires.

However, it is wrong to suggest, as some people have done, that this figure relates solely to bushfire arson.

The vast bulk of this action related to other offences such as failing to comply with fire bans and the discarding of lit cigarettes and matches.

Of the 183 people who face legal action in NSW, only 24 (representing 13 per cent of the total) were charged with deliberately lighting bushfires.

A further 53 people (29 per cent of the total) faced charges or a caution for failing to comply with a total fire ban; 47 (26 per cent) faced charges or were cautioned for throwing away a lit cigarette or match on land.

It also makes the interesting point that fires started by lightning may occur in remote and inaccessible places which makes fighting them more difficult, while deliberately-lit fires will be closer to civilisation.