Seems a bit ideological to label climate change as "the actual problem" when 24 arsonists were caught, over the season, deliberately starting forest fires. Forest fires aren't a new thing but people deliberately starting them seems to be.
No?
https://www.crimestatistics.vic.gov.au/media-centrenews/arso... https://www.crimestatistics.vic.gov.au/crime-statisticshisto... https://www.crimestatistics.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/e...
Arson is certainly a thing that happens but isn't suddenly drastically increasing for no reason.
What is increasing is the rate at which those acts become extensive bushfires. Which is caused by drought drying out the land (increasing fuel). Which is linked to ... yep, climate change.
>What is increasing is the rate at which those acts become extensive bushfires
According to MSM 24 were charged with "deliberately lighting bushfires", not committing garden variety arson that metastasized into bushfires.
Forest fires have always been easy to start, if one wanted to, but people intentionally attempting to do so seems unusual.
It makes no sense to use trends when the discussion is incidents.
If a single act of Arson was the only fire started then it still wouldn't make sense to attribute the fires to arson alone, because arson can start a fire but for it to grow it needs dry fuel. Which is created by drought. Which is linked to climate change.
And of course arson trails behind legal and illegal burning off and lightning as starter of fires anyway [1].
I mean like sure if we were able to somehow eliminate arson and burning off we would probably have less bushfires.
That doesn't change that the scale of these fires is straightforwardly linked to climate change. Fixating on these miscellaneous factors distracts from the broader, more critical issue.
[1] https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ENuS0AHUwAERccK?format=png&name=... (from https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/lcdocs/other/12533/Answers...)
Given the fanatic stirring caused by Thunberg, enactment of a 'State of Fear' as envisaged in the novel by Michael Crichton is not an unreasonable fear. It's even been encouraged by climatatogist Stephen Schneider who wrote: "...to reduce the risk of potentially disastrous climate change ...we have to get some broad-based support, to capture the public’s imagination. That, of course, entails getting loads of media coverage. So we have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified, dramatic statements, and make little mention of any doubts we might have. This double ethical bind which we frequently find ourselves in cannot be solved by any formula. Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest. I hope that means being both."
If any arsonist did light a fire with this in mind, he or she has certainly been vindicated given the media's reaction.
Deliberate arson is not new in Australia, don't make out that it's the reason for the scale of these particular fires. "Conditions, not ignitions".
Fire chiefs had anticipated and warned of the likelihood of these fires, and they are clear in asserting that climate change is a factor. Australia just had its hottest day ever broken multiple times over a series of days.
> Incidents by Suspected Fire Cause as Recorded in ICON for 2018/19 Financial Year
> Note: All incident types have been included (for example bush fires, structure and vehicle fires).
Suspected Fire Cause
------------------------------------
Accidental ................... 3.50%
Arson ........................ 1.30%
Burning Off - Illegal ........ 8.30%
Burning Off - Legal ......... 13.30%
Campfire ..................... 3.90%
Debris Burning ............... 1.80%
Electrical ................... 2.20%
Equipment Use ................ 0.76%
Escaped Hazard Reduction ..... 0.43%
Escaped Permit ............... 0.11%
Escaped Pile Burn ............ 1.30%
Incendiary ................... 0.09%
Juvenile (fire play) ......... 0.57%
Lightning .................... 7.60%
Machinery/Slasher ............ 1.10%
Miscellaneous/Other ......... 34.00%
Motor Vehicle ................ 5.30%
Natural ...................... 1.60%
Power Line ................... 0.67%
Rail ......................... 0.09%
Smoking ...................... 0.43%
Suspicious ................... 4.00%
Undetermined ................. 7.50%
Source: https://twitter.com/joshgnosis/status/1214726287782109184