Dawgfather
Banned
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2003
- Messages
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I know the other thread got closed, but that seemed to be for separate reasons and not because we can't talk about bush fires.
I'll kick the convo off again.
There is a lot of talk saying these fires are unprecedented, however, let's look at the worst fires in Australia by number of deaths and number of acres burned:
Worst by area burned:
1974-75 - NT - 110,000,000 acres
1974-75 - WA - 72,000,000 acres
1974-75 - SA - 42,000,000 acres
2002 - NT - 37,000,000 acres
1974-75 Qld - 19,000,000 acres
Current year 2019/20 - 16,000,000 acres
Worst by fatalities:
2009 Black Saturday Victoria - 173 dead
1983 Ash Wednesday South Australia & Victoria - 75 dead
1939 Black Friday Victoria - 71 dead
1967 Black Tuesday Tasmania - 62 dead
1926 Victoria - 60 dead
1962 Victoria - 32 dead
Current year 2019/20 - 25 dead
Everyone agrees this years fires are horrific but to call them unprecedented would seem an exaggeration?
Also, 183 people (to date) have been spoken to or charged by police regarding fire offences (including arson) since November. I don't think there are stats yet, however it would seem a significant majority of these fires are the cause of humans lighting fires (which of course has nothing to do with climate change).
I'll kick the convo off again.
There is a lot of talk saying these fires are unprecedented, however, let's look at the worst fires in Australia by number of deaths and number of acres burned:
Worst by area burned:
1974-75 - NT - 110,000,000 acres
1974-75 - WA - 72,000,000 acres
1974-75 - SA - 42,000,000 acres
2002 - NT - 37,000,000 acres
1974-75 Qld - 19,000,000 acres
Current year 2019/20 - 16,000,000 acres
Worst by fatalities:
2009 Black Saturday Victoria - 173 dead
1983 Ash Wednesday South Australia & Victoria - 75 dead
1939 Black Friday Victoria - 71 dead
1967 Black Tuesday Tasmania - 62 dead
1926 Victoria - 60 dead
1962 Victoria - 32 dead
Current year 2019/20 - 25 dead
Everyone agrees this years fires are horrific but to call them unprecedented would seem an exaggeration?
Also, 183 people (to date) have been spoken to or charged by police regarding fire offences (including arson) since November. I don't think there are stats yet, however it would seem a significant majority of these fires are the cause of humans lighting fires (which of course has nothing to do with climate change).
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