Australia Burns

[Whistler]

Whistler, with your experience were the fires of 1939 (Black Friday) and 1983 (Ash Wednesday) a result of climate change?

No. But since 1994 the frequency of more severe and more frequent fires in Australia is unprecedented. 1994, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2013, 2018, 2019, 2020 etc. This never happened with that regularity at any other time in recorded Australian history. The intensity has also increased. I remember 2009 when my crew landed in Tullamarine in Melbourne it was 48 degrees and 4% humidity. In 2006 on the Central Cost it was 47 and 4% humidity.

You can be a climate sceptic all you like, but the figures show otherwise.

[Whistler]

Fire fighting aircraft cannot put out a major bush fire. Their value is in assisting where the fire encroaches on property. Saving lives and property have been the focus of fire fighting for the last two decades. Only decent rain will extinguish a big bushfire. You can control to an extent by flanking a fire, backburning is effective, but when these monsters hit you cannot put them out, all you can do is try to protect lives and properties in relatively small pockets of the fire field.

Aircraft can be very effective in those circumstance.

[tamada]

Whistler, with your experience were the fires of 1939 (Black Friday) and 1983 (Ash Wednesday) a result of climate change?

Don't be silly. Everyone knows that those were caused by a lack of raking (as opposed to trolling).