An unexpected bushfire danger

[old man emu]

Sydney's air is thick with the bushfire smoke, and health authorities have been warning of its dangers to breathing, but yesterday I discovered an unexpected danger from the smoke.

 

About 5:50 pm I was driving east on a road in a semi-rural area. At that time the sun was dropping lower and its light was beginning to pass though the a greater distance of smoke haze. The light was taking on a golden hue. 

 

I approached the T-junction at the end of the road with the intention of turning left. I looked towards the south (my right) and saw a car approaching. As it got closer I detected yellow light flashing on the left front of the car from the area where I expected its turn indicator to be. I assumed that the flashing light was the turn indicator and that the driver was going to turn left into the street I was leaving. So I pulled out and made my left turn. Luckily there was a goodly distance between the approaching car and my vehicle, because as I started along the road, the other car didn't turn left, but kept coming.

 

At first I thought nasty thoughts about the other driver's not cancelling the indicator, but as I drove, I noticed the light changes as I drove in and out of the shadows of the trees on the side of the road. Then I clicked! I wasn't seeing the car's indicator operating. I was seeing the yellow-hued sunlight reflecting off the car's bumper bar, or chromed headlight assembly.

 

 

[Yenn]

That is a common occurrence up here in Qld Following a car and seeing the red light at the tail winking as it goes from light to shade.

 

Between my place and Rockhampton  in the late afternoon, especially in winter all the northbound traffic has its lights on. What happens is that they have the sun in their eyes and cannot see well, and what the Southbound traffic should do is also put their lights on to be more visible. Southbound traffic can't see anything in their mirrors because of the glare of the sun.

 

Nothing to do with bush fires.

 

 

[old man emu]

Not really unexpected, but something that more people are affected by - poor air quality.

 

There are close on 5.25 million people living in the Sydney Basin. Apart from a few minor bushfires so far this season,  the expected major fires have not happened (yet ?). However those millions are suffering from the smoke of the distant fires. Here are the results of this morning's ( 2nd December) air quality monitoring:

 

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Over Camden and The Oaks, the air is thick with smoke. As I write this, my eyes are stinging, and I haven't been outside yet. My wife has had a ticklish throat and sneezing for a week, and we are closely monitoring our grandson in case he has an attack of asthma.

 

I've posted this link (http://www.condellpark.com/bear/smogbasin.htm ) in other topics, but it shows quite well the natural daily movement of air, and its associated pollution, across the Sydney Basin. This explains why the air quality is so poor her at the moment. I just listened to Bankstown ATIS which is saying that viability is down to 8 km out towards Camden and The Oaks. At Camden we have a westerly at 20 kts gusting to 30 QNH 999.7.

 

Where, oh where, is the rain that usually accompanies such low air pressures?

 

[Yenn]

I don't know if this is global warming, but we have had 314mm for the year so far. nowhere near normal rain and the least for the 11 months since I started keeping records, That is 37 years.

 

Next driest was1994 with 436mm, so we need 30% more to get near the next driest year.

 

Luckily we have plenty of cattle around to keep the grass down. There is not a great amount of fuel, but even if it does burn we can control it with back burning, if the government would let us.

 

 

[Yenn]

Latest theory on global warming.

 

Global warming has only really become apparent in the last few years.

 

In the festive season we are about to enter there has always been much playing of Christmas Carols on the media, from mid November onwards.

 

In recent years there has been a lessening of the Carols played and the carol playing season starts later each year. This is to appease the Muslim community who do not like others to have religious music, or even any music in some cases.

 

The increasing bush fires in Qld is in direct relationship to the decrease in Christmas carols, therefore it must be the cause.

 

I urge you all to contact your local radio station and demand that they play Christmas Carols non stop until the end of the fire season.

 

Failure to do so will make you complicit in causing bushfires.

 

 

[old man emu]

What a fine expression of logic in the Aristotelian style!

 

 

[facthunter]

 Too late Yenn. It's already been solved. Tell the Fireys to stop putting them out. These fires are God's punishment for passing the same sex marriage laws .Strange nothing much was done about child abuse  by (some) Church leaders.

 

 

[Yenn]

Todays news is that some of the old fire chiefs are saying that it is the amount of fuel available that is the cause of the fires.

 

As I have been saying for years we are controlled by petty bureaucrats who deny us permission to do fuel reduction burns.

 

If the cause is really excess fuel it is then because of the government, if the cause is global warming we could also say it is the fault of the government who are in denial.

 

I know climate was beginning to change when I was a kid.

 

I used to go to London and see all the big buildings, such as the houses of parliament. Now when I see them 40 years on I cannot remember them. They are a nice honey gold colour, I remember them as black, as was the collar of my shirt and my hands. All due to the burning of coal for household heating.

 

 

[facthunter]

Causing dense FOGS like Melbourne's Briquettes did. Happens much less now.  Rainforests never burned,  Yenn as they do now and once that happens they aren't rain forests any more. Nev