NSW, VIC and now SA - A fire tornado - What is next!
I don't know about you but I only learnt recently that a tornado of fire was possible and that if a fire was large enough it could create its own weather pattern. Extreme conditions of up to 200km per hour burst of walls of fire that reach temperatures of 2000 - 3000 degrees celsius are possible. If such a thing did occur, then we would see steal melt which is sometimes reported in the mainstream media. Fires at this scale will burn anything in its path, it does not need to be dry it will simply combust.
RFS Boss Shane Fitzsimmons covers off on such extreme conditions in the following interview:
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Our own Russell Crowe has also jumped into the public domain making his view cristal clear at the Golden Globes Awards.
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Folks at the ABC have picked up their game also quickly interviewing leading economists on the rebuilding process.
Shane Oliver - AMP Chief Economist - what economic cycles lay ahead of us.
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The challenges we face in real economic growth is funding at the state level, not the federal government. The federal government can certainly make one-off payments, tax exemption ... etc that are often short-lived. So the real answer will be how local communities build themselves and where big business steps in to help.
Keeping all this in mind, we really have not solved a number of critical problems like: How to manage firebreaks to tackle this new climate change requirement. We still have a serious water management issue. There are no real guidelines when we build new structures how we can fully exploit new technologies to reduce the impact we have on our environment. These are only the first things that come to mind, I am sure there is a whole swag of critical issues I have not mentioned here.
For me, the answer sits squarely with our local communities and involving great Australian ambassadors like Russell Crowe to keep the focus on getting something done in the next few months. My biggest concern is the media will move on and those folks in NSW, VIC and SA ... etc who have lost loved ones, property, family history, jobs will be quickly forgotten. It is important we are all clear on the price climate change has presented itself with and the type of initiatives we need to invest over the long term for the future of our children, their children, ... infinitum.
Personally, I believe the future is in setting a goal for a negative CO2 emissions strategy. One scenario would have technology innovation enabling fossil fuel engines a capability to take out more CO2 emissions than it adds to the environment. CO2 emission policy should never be a zero-sum game, it should be one that transitions from the old to new. This type of revolution needs to be a bottom-up one, driven by passionate people with big hearts who take action above all. This is asking a lot, as this type of economic growth has yet to play out anywhere in the world. Just maybe this event in Australia may be the real tipping point for such actions to begin.
Possible next steps. If this was an open-source project I would organise a small committee to organise the requirements, a draft road map and action points. From that point, we would look at a list of high demand clients, in our case local communities. Following that, we would run the campaign in real-time across all social media platforms: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter .. etc. There would be live feeds to all the affected communities demonstrating the difference we make to real people as they rebuild their communities including reversing the impact to the native wildlife and fauna. High profile Australian celebrities who call it as they see it like Russell Crowe would be out there telling the story to anyone brave enough to listen.
Unlike my previous articles, I encourage all and any constructive feedback especially if you are an Australian. Any constructive discussion is better than no discussion or worse still politically driven PR as we are beyond the point we can cosmetically deal with such catastrophic events.
When the dash and the excitement and the novelty are dead, And you’ve seen a load of wounded once or twice, Or you’ve watched your old mate dying–with the vultures overhead, Well, you wonder if the war is worth the price. And down along Monaro now they’re starting out to shear, I can picture the excitement and the row; But they’ll miss me on the Lachlan when they call the roll this year, For we’re going on a long job now.
Banjo Paterson