Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! Australian Bushfires Have Become LESS FREQUENT Over The Past 15 Years

Australian Bushfires Have Become Less Frequent Over The Past 15 Years

By Dr. Sebastian Lüning and Prof. Fritz Vahrenholt
(German text translated/edited by P Gosselin)

In the Australian state of Victoria, 50,000 km² of land have burned and 12 people and 1 million sheep and thousands of heads of cattle lost their lives. The regions hit by fire were near Portland, Westernport and in the Plenty Ranges, as well as the Wimmera and Dandenong districts. The burned regions extended over a quarter of the state. Conditions for the fires were made favorable by the long-lasting drought period, which changed the landscape into a tinderbox. Finally the fire was exacerbated by strong winds, which carried off a glowing ember from a campfire and ignited the adjacent grassy region.

What role did climate change play in the fire disaster? The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and other alarmists remained surprisingly moot here. Normally climate alarmists rush to the microphones and claim that although such single events are not easily linked to climate change, the probability is in any case is much higher. Loaded dice.

Proponents of a climate catastrophe kept silent in the case of these Victoria fires because they had not been born yet.

The described above fires occurred in February, 1851 and are known as the ‘Black Thursday Bushfires‘.

There have always been bushfires in Australia. For example at the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century in New South Wales. Apparently that fact was not even known by the former General Secretary of the Climate Framework Convention of the United Nations (UNFCCC), Christiana Figueres, who in 2013 described in knee-jerk fashion that the fires in New South Wales (NSW) were a consequence of climate change. A classic gaffe – one that should never happen for someone occupying such a position.

The provincial government defended itself against such misinterpretations. The German business daily Handelsbatt wrote on October 25, 2013:

The new conservative government accuses environmental protection activists are exploiting the fires to oppose the planned repeal of of the CO2-tax. ‘Some people are trying to profit from all the tragedy and suffering of this week,’ said Environment Minister Greg Hunt. By the way, the CSIRO research authority just explained that there have been bushfires in Australia for millions of years.”

If one counts the damage from bushfires in NSW compared to the number of homes, then there has been no recognizable trend over the past 90 years.  In The Conversation, John McAneney presented the facts. Foremost he sees deficits with regards to land-use planning, which made the extent of the fire damage possible.

In July 2017 a study by Nick Earl und Ian Simmonds appeared in the Journal of Geophysical Research. The authors analyzed the Australian bushfire statistics from 2001-2015 and found a reduction in fires. Yet, they did find a large temporal and spatial variability which in part was controlled by ocean cycles such as the El Nino or the Indian Ocean Dipole. Abstract:

Variability, trends, and drivers of regional fluctuations in Australian fire activity
Throughout the world fire regimes are determined by climate, vegetation, and anthropogenic factors, and they have great spatial and temporal variability. The availability of high-quality satellite data has revolutionized fire monitoring, allowing for a more consistent and comprehensive evaluation of temporal and spatial patterns. Here we utilize a satellite based “active fire” (AF) product to statistically analyze 2001–2015 variability and trends in Australian fire activity and link this to precipitation and large-scale atmospheric structures (namely, the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD)) known to have potential for predicting fire activity in different regions. It is found that Australian fire activity is decreasing (during summer (December–February)) or stable, with high temporal and spatial variability. Eastern New South Wales (NSW) has the strongest decreasing trend (to the 1% confidence level), especially during the winter (JJA) season. Other significantly decreasing areas are Victoria/NSW, Tasmania, and South-east Queensland. These decreasing fire regions are relatively highly populated, so we suggest that the declining trends are due to improved fire management, reducing the size and duration of bush fires. Almost half of all Australian AFs occur during spring (September–November). We show that there is considerable potential throughout Australia for a skillful forecast for future season fire activity based on current and previous precipitation activity, ENSO phase, and to a lesser degree, the IOD phase. This is highly variable, depending on location, e.g., the IOD phase is for more indicative of fire activity in southwest Western Australia than for Queensland.”

 

10 responses to “Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! Australian Bushfires Have Become LESS FREQUENT Over The Past 15 Years”

  1. Christopher Hanley

    Losses from bushfires apply only to settled areas.
    Overwhelmingly most frequent bushfires in Australia occur in remote largely unpopulated areas where fire-losses are not measured:
    http://www.environorth.org.au/savanna_web/publications/images/aust_fire.jpg
    I don’t know if any trend has been identified, the data available is from satellite imagery so I doubt it .

  2. David Joss

    The 1851 bushfires were largely due to the cessation of the low intensity fires lit by the Aborigines — sometimes accidentally but often deliberately as part of their open-landscape policies (see “The Biggest Estate on Earth” by Bill Gammage, Allen & Unwin 2011). The Aborigines were experts in fire behavior and its effect on the ecology but when their numbers declined after white settlement the accumulated wisdom (some say 40,000 years worth) went with them. Today’s white population is slowly coming to the realization that the aboriginal way was best although the nation still thrown countless $million at putting the fires out instead of reducing fuel loads on the ground with controlled burns before the fire season.

    1. yonason (from my cell phone)

      Same with American Indians, who were vastly more competent at land use than the scientific “experts” of our Forestry Service.
      http://www.blc.arizona.edu/courses/schaffer/182h/Climate/Fear,%20Complexity,%20&%20Environmental%20Management%20in%20the%2021st%20Century.htm

      1. yonason (from my cell phone)

        PS – the relevant material is near the bottom, where Crichton documents how they ruined Yellowstone, as his example of incompetence of the “experts.”

      2. John F. Hultquist

        Same with the timing (1850s) in central Washington State. Natives were losing their lands. That’s a long and interesting story. A neighbor is a member of the Yakama Nation.
        A friend at the local university does research (sediment cores in lakes) looking for charcoal and pollen and works out the dates of fire history.
        Now we are set up for big fires, because the fuel is there. Big difference between many small fires and a few mega-fires.
        Oh well, climate change will be hyped as the cause. It will fit the scam.

  3. Steve

    There is a lot more people in Aust. now and therefore there are a lot more idiots.
    These idiots do things like..
    1) throw cigarette butts out of cars in the middle of summer.
    2) deliberately start fires because they are idiots
    3) decide to go camping and go to sleep and leave the fire to run rampant
    4) Leave broken bottles lying around so the sun can heat them to the point where a fire starts.
    5) you get my drift!
    Idiots also like to build wooden houses at the top of canopies.
    And of course we have the bureaucrat idiots who like to dictate to farmers that they cannot clear ground ( on their property) even to make firebreaks, like as if farmers don’t know how manage their own land.
    It is getting to the point now where a bloke will need a permit to take a piss ( to put out a fire)

    1. John F. Hultquist

      We are allowed to piss to write our name in yellow letters in white snow.
      https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2704/4251444662_6227fe7e41_b.jpg

      1. Steve

        Yeah thx for that.
        I have to admit that I do like a bit of excellent graffiti.

  4. Hilario

    Climate stability causes Aussie bush fires. ire up the CO2 emissions!

  5. Take it from DC: Local climate action works – Gaia Gazette

By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. more information

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this. More information at our Data Privacy Policy

Close