Update on number of animals killed in Australian bushfires: Sydney expertShareProfessor Chris Dickman has revised his estimate of the number of animals killed in bushfires in NSW to more than 800 million animals, with a national impact of more than one billion animals.
Several weeks ago Professor Dickman, from the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Science, estimated that 480 million animals would be killed by the fires. With the fires having now continued and extended their range he has updated that figure including putting the impact nationally at more than one billion animals.
Speaking to National Public Radio in America Professor Dickman said, “I think there’s nothing quite to compare with the devastation that’s going on over such a large area so quickly. It’s a monstrous event in terms of geography and the number of individual animals affected.”
“We know that Australian biodiversity has been going down over the last several decades, and it’s probably fairly well known that Australia’s got the world’s highest rate of extinction for mammals. It’s events like this that may well hasten the extinction process for a range of other species. So, it’s a very sad time.
“What we’re seeing are the effects of climate change. Sometimes, it’s said that Australia is the canary in the coal mine with the effects of climate change being seen here most severely and earliest… We’re probably looking at what climate change may look like for other parts of the world in the first stages in Australia at the moment,” said Professor Dickman from the Faculty of Science.
“I think there is a feeling among environmental scientists and ecologists in Australia that we’ve been frozen out of the debate, certainly out of policymaking. I think it’s now time to bring the scientists back into the tent to look at what is likely to be happening over the next few decades and to think about how we can maintain both the human community in good health and as much biodiversity as can be retained under this evolving situation.”
Professor Dickman explains that animals that survive the fires in the first instance by fleeing or going underground will return or re-emerge into areas that don’t have the resources to support them. Others will fall victim to introduced predators such as feral cats and red foxes. Even for those birds or animals able to flee to unaffected areas they will rarely be able to successfully compete with animals already living there and succumb within a short time.
Month: January 2020
Deniers in Overdrive on Aussie Fires
Climate denial social media offensive follows the same format we saw during the California fire season – with a new wrinkle.
THE FACT:
Fire services in Australia do regular burns to control brush build up and deprive fires of ready fuel. These practices actually date back to the indigenous people in pre-European times.
THE LIE:
Climate deniers spreading the rumor that “greenies” have kept authorities from doing enough controlled burns – and that THAT is the mechanism and driver for current fires. In addition, creative denialists have added the wrinkle that it’s in fact greenie Enviros who are actually busy lighting the fires, to blame on fossil fuels and climate change.
Above: New South Wales Royal Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons politely shoots down those claims.
WOMBEYAN CAVES, Australia — Deep in the burning forests south of Sydney this week, volunteer firefighters were clearing a track through the woods, hoping to hold back a nearby blaze, when one of them shouted over the crunching of bulldozers.
“Don’t take photos of any trees coming down,” he said. “The greenies will get a hold of it, and it’ll all be over.”
The idea that “greenies” or environmentalists would oppose measures to prevent fires from ravaging homes and lives is simply false. But the comment reflects a narrative that’s been promoted for months by conservative Australian media outlets, especially the influential newspapers and television stations owned by Rupert Murdoch.
And it’s far from the only Murdoch-fueled claim making the rounds. His standard-bearing national newspaper, The Australian, has also repeatedly argued that this year’s fires are no worse than those of the past — not true, scientists say, noting that 12 million acres have burned so far, with 2019 alone scorching more of New South Wales than the previous 15 years combined.
Below, example of bogus tweet
“Good Morning Britain” Hammers Aussie Denier on Fires
Meanwhile, in Indonesia..
Wildlife Impacts Continue in Australia
It’s not going to be enough, but around the world, people are stepping in to help.
Costa Rica is a Model for Carbon Neutral Future
Kevin Trenberth PhD on Ocean Heat Waves
Continue reading “Kevin Trenberth PhD on Ocean Heat Waves”A swath of the Pacific Ocean larger than New South Wales is heating up, and fast.
About 800 kilometres (497 miles) east of New Zealand’s South Island, near the Chatham Islands, ocean temperatures have spiked to almost 6 degrees Celsius warmer than average.
Normally, surface temperatures in that part of the Pacific hover around 15 degrees Celsius (59 Fahrenheit), but the blobs is around 20 degrees Celsius (68 Fahrenheit), according to James Renwick, a scientist at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand.
“It’s the biggest patch of above-average warming on the planet right now,” Renwick told The Guardian.
In satellite images, this 1,000,000-square-kilometre (386,000 square mile) patch looks like a menacing red blob.
“Sea temperatures don’t actually vary too much, and a degree, plus or minus, is quite a big deal, and this area is probably 4 degrees [Celsius] or more than that above average and that’s pretty huge,” Renwick told The New Zealand Herald.
He added: “I don’t have an explanation for it.”
Beds are Burning: Mike Mann in Australia
Michael Mann PhD in the Guardian:
Continue reading “Beds are Burning: Mike Mann in Australia”After years studying the climate, my work has brought me to Sydney where I’m studying the linkages between climate change and extreme weather events.
Prior to beginning my sabbatical stay in Sydney, I took the opportunity this holiday season to vacation in Australia with my family. We went to see the Great Barrier Reef – one of the great wonders of this planet – while we still can. Subject to the twin assaults of warming-caused bleaching and ocean acidification, it will be gone in a matter of decades in the absence of a dramatic reduction in global carbon emissions.
We also travelled to the Blue Mountains, another of Australia’s natural wonders, known for its lush temperate rainforests, majestic cliffs and rock formations and panoramic vistas that challenge any the world has to offer. It too is now threatened by climate change.
I witnessed this firsthand.
I did not see vast expanses of rainforest framed by distant blue-tinged mountain ranges. Instead I looked out into smoke-filled valleys, with only the faintest ghosts of distant ridges and peaks in the background. The iconic blue tint (which derives from a haze formed from “terpenes” emitted by the Eucalyptus trees that are so plentiful here) was replaced by a brown haze. The blue sky, too, had been replaced by that brown haze.
Climate Catastrophe Animal Vid of the Week – Aussi Fireys and Koalas
UPDATE: More Koala rescues below
Continue reading “Climate Catastrophe Animal Vid of the Week – Aussi Fireys and Koalas”Fossil Fuel Campaign Contributions Outweigh Clean Energy by 13 to 1
High on the list for a (fingers crossed) new congress and President should be campaign finance reform.
Karin Kirk at Yale Climate Connections:
Corporations, special interest groups, and individuals inject billions of dollars into the American political system every year. Much of the financial support in politics is concealed from public view, as some rules – and loopholes – allow “dark money” and undisclosed donors to remain behind a wall. But some of those contributions can be traced via the Federal Election Commission, the IRS, congressional public records offices, and other resources.
The Open Secrets database, for instance, shines a light on this often murky process. The website is the work of the Center for Responsive Politics, whose stated mission is to improve transparency and citizen engagement around the influences of money in public policy. The website uses existing transparency laws to track the finances of candidates, political parties, lobbyists, and outside groups, and it describes ways cash is funneled through the system.
Few seriously question whether fossil fuel money in politics has played a substantial role in climate change and energy policy, and some researchers say it’s the single most important reason climate action has been stalled for decades in the U.S. Investigative reporting by InsideClimate News showed that Exxon and other oil companies have spent more than $5 billion undermining climate science and fighting clean energy policies. It reported in a 2017 article on how money circulated through multiple channels:
The industry sowed doubt for decades about climate science, spending $2.9 billion on advocacy advertising alone in a 10-year period ending in 2015. It spent $1.3 billion more lobbying to shape public policy on energy issues during the same period and has pumped out $827.9 million in campaign contributions since 2000 to elect sympathetic officials at the local, state and federal levels.
While the breadth of fossil fuel spending on climate policy and political issues is not surprising, the scope and scale is perhaps best understood when hard numbers are brought out to daylight.
Fossil fuel interests outspend renewable energy by more than 13 to 1
