This is happening where?
'Worst day in history' "He recalled scenes last week of wooden power poles self-igniting."
or this
"Heatwave puts morgue under pressure"
Welcome to Victoria, Australia circa 2050? Nope, this is happening now.
Whilst in the same country in the North we have this...
"Queensland the great sodden land as floods bring despair"
Back in 1983 more than 180 fires swept through Victoria and South Australia taking the lives of 75 people and causing the following damage.
Ash Wednesday is one of Australia’s costliest natural disasters.[11] Over 3,700 buildings were destroyed or damaged and 2,545 individuals and families lost their homes. Livestock losses were very high, with over 340,000 sheep, 18,000 cattle and numerous native animals either dead or later destroyed.[12] A total of 4,540 insurance claims were paid totaling A$176 million with a total estimated cost of well over $400 million (1983 values) for both states or $1.3 billion in adjusted terms (2007) Link
This was termed the "worst bushfire disaster in Australias history".
JohnnyRook wrote a diary a couple of days ago discussing the remarkable weather patterns which are occurring across three continents which discussed this ongoing heat wave in the Southern States of Australia.
Usually I reserve comment on climate related diaries, but in this instance I chose to say a couple of things, because these 'freak' events are no longer simply leaving Australia with localised damage.
My comments were intended to show a real life effect on infrastructure and the almost crazy mitigating consequences, band aids, Australian taxpayers are now being forced to pay for. The root cause of the problem, excess carbon dioxide, is still not addressed, rather expensive 'emergency/national interest" facilities must be fast tracked to deal with the problem.
Victorias electricity grid is self destructing in places with the excessive high temperatures.
2 out of 3 major transmission lines fail which feed Melbourne
Major transformers are blowing up
And forced load shedding affecting 3 states with blackouts
De-centralizing and localizing power generation is starting to make a lot of sense particularly in areas like Victoria which are already feeling the effects of climate change.
Followed by this
I still wonder how long it will take those who (12+ / 0-)
do not understand the long term affects of excessive carbon dioxide will have on their ordinary lives to wake up.
When you consider across Australia expensive mitigation efforts are being forced on them.
Try making their own water $3.1 Billion
Whilst at the same time using massive amounts of clean cooling water which evaporates off in their Rankine cycle coal power stations.
Here are the links to the power stations supplying Victoria.
Yallourn
Loy Yang
Hazelwood
In 2006, Loy Yang Power used 23 gigalitres from its allocated catchment areas (Latrobe River and Blue Rock Dam), and 11 gigalitres from artesian supplies - a total of 34 gigalitres.
This is one of 3 major power stations which averages out to 93 Ml per day. Know how much water the new $3.1 Billion dollar desalination plant will make?
150 Gigalitres per year.
The $3.1 Billion should go towards putting a solar panel on every roof and retire these power stations freeing up the water wasted.
Once again a band aid in place of dealing with the root cause of the problem.
Some photosof the damage.
The warnings for tomorrow could not be more frightening if taken seriously, which from the comment in the title of this diary, they should be.
"Victorians should cancel whatever plans they may have had for tomorrow and take whatever steps necessary to prepare for what Premier John Brumby is calling the "worst day in the history of the state".
or
"Ring them ... it's going to be a terrible day for anyone who is ill or who is old."
Mr Brumby said he expected Melbourne to reach 43 or 44 degrees with similar temperatures throughout the state, reaching as high as 46 in Mildura. Link
This is 46 degrees Celsius or 114.8 degrees Fahrenheit. Maybe not much if this was a city in the middle of the desert, but it's not. I can remember growing up in Victoria and moving North to Queensland, closer to the equator 1,000 miles, because I just did not like the consistent wet and cold temperatures experienced in Melbourne. That was only 15 years ago.
Now I prefer the North because we don't get quite as hot or dry as Melbourne.
And yet go another 1,000 miles or so North and we have this occuring on the same continent.
The Queensland floods will devastate the beef industry as livestock starve
TENS of thousands of cattle stranded by floods in Queensland have been left to starve because owners cannot drop feed to them and state authorities say they are powerless to act.
Farmers fear the rain and floods that have affected two-thirds of Queensland will devastate the beef industry in some regions, while sugarcane growers are also bracing for heavy losses.
So because of heat we have the electricity system falling apart in Victoria, we are building desalination plants to supply drinking water as there is no water security. Oh and don't forget that desalination plant will be needing a massive amount of electricity to run those big High pressure pumps.
At the same time the agricultural industry is being devastated in the North with the decimation of beef herds and sugar cane crops. And the rain continues.
The reason I tend to avoid talking about climate disruption is kind of hard to explain but I'll try.
Those power stations I linked to above, that is the area where I grew up. Those coal fired power stations were where my grandfathers, my uncles and my dad worked for most of their lives. They are where I completed an apprenticeship and spent my early 20's. Since then I have been all over Australia (and O/S) building and commissioning similar plants. In other words it is not in my best interests to believe in C02 as a damaging pollutant because my income relies on me actively contributing to plants designed to make more of it.
But the problem for me is I have looked at this from all angles, and I know it is a pollutant. More so than most I know about what a coal fired power station does. That the aim is to make the perfect mix of C02 in a controlled combustion cycle. I believe that these things happening in Victoria and Queensland, although impossible to definitively say are 'climate change', did not used to happen simultaneously in Australia. And never to the extent that so much damage could happen on so many fronts. That seawater plants are only now required to be built to keep people alive. That infrastructure which has been around for 30, 40, 50 years is spontaneously combusting or cannot withstand the number of consecutive extreme temperature days. That the frequency of these hot days is increasing in unusual places.
I am working on another diary which will detail the reasons why I believe climate change is directly attributable to excessive accumulation of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere but wanted to get this one up as soon as I could.
I pray tomorrow a freak 'cool change' will come to Victoria or at the very least, people have taken heed of the warnings and stay inside.
That likewise, for once in Australia and the United States our opposition parties could come together and pass stimulus packages. Something which avoids the intagible abstracts such as 'tax cuts will trickle down'. To take my tax dollars and spend it on something real which will begin to reduce the forecast planetary impacts we are destined to experience if business continues as usual.
But right now, that is a but an unrealistic dream. As it looks, we will continue with the political nightmare that is sold as 'democracy by the people'. Which knowingly squanders our childrens future while the planet burns.
So I'll keep hoping that enough people like this (below) will 'get it' and begin to demand meaningful action.
After reading JohnnyRooks diary today and what it is he is going through and thinking about what he has chosen to spend precious time on, it is difficult to simply go find something else to do when it gets too overwhelming to contemplate what we are doing in the name of 'modern civilization' and business as usual. As much time as I can spare will be spent identifying ways of rectifying and dealing with this issue of climate disruption. Even if it is an occassional diary on DKos, I think it is up to each of us to find a way to help change the direction we are headed.
Johnny Rook and many others on this site have made a difference at least for me, just thought you should know that. Thankyou.
Update - NSW is forecast to be the hottest place on earth on Sunday