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Good heavens. Next year, these same clueless wonders will be writing about the 'miraculous rebirth' of forests and wildlife. Pro tip: forests evolved to burn

by tgafpg 7y ago

Good heavens. Next year, these same clueless wonders will be writing about the 'miraculous rebirth' of forests and wildlife. Pro tip: forests evolved to burn regularly. Nature!

claudeganon 7y ago
The scale and intensity of the fires in Australia is unprecedented in the history of its settlement. There’s no record of this level of species or habitat destruction, nor do we have good models for what impact climate change will have on fire occurrence or intensity in the future. Your model of “nature” isn’t rooted in a real appraisal of this changing calculus, it’s just hand-waving masquerading as wisdom.
DagAgren 7y ago
These fires are on a scale that is unprecedented. But they are also not an isolated event, and they will continue from now on, and get worse. Forests have not evolved to deal with that.
hazz99 7y ago
These fires are significantly worse than they should be, not to mention our average summer heat rising & the fire season lengthening every year. We are Australia, we have fires every year. We understand that forests burn naturally, and we understand what that looks like. It's taught to every second grader during fire season. This isn't that.
donavanm 7y ago
I suspect the articles point is more the scope, frequency, and magnitude of these changes. The fires are just one symptom. The city of Sydney being down to 40% of its water supply, and plausibly down to 20% this year. The Murray-darling basin is, bluntly, fucked. And regards to your “pithy” comment I do believe you’re off base. FWICT ecologists, biologists, and foresters are at a bit of a loss. We’re losing territory that simply doesnt burn in the normal cycle. To quote myself, The fires have been much larger and hotter than typical. The vegetation that does regrow probably wont be the same as we lost, ie pyrophillic scrubland replacing forrest. The fires are also destructive enough to destroy pyrophytic plants that would resist previous bushfires. Both of these are going to disrupt the regrowth of the ecosystem in unexpected/abnormal ways. Concern is that it leads to a long term cycle of more, hotter, larger fires and permanent habitat loss.
pjc50 7y ago
The forest may regrow, although on a scale of decades rather than next year. Not all the animal species will come back. What will definitely not grow back is the 2,000 homes destroyed.

by tgafpg 7y ago

Good heavens. Next year, these same clueless wonders will be writing about the 'miraculous rebirth' of forests and wildlife. Pro tip: forests evolved to burn regularly. Nature!

claudeganon 7y ago

The scale and intensity of the fires in Australia is unprecedented in the history of its settlement. There’s no record of this level of species or habitat destruction, nor do we have good models for what impact climate change will have on fire occurrence or intensity in the future. Your model of “nature” isn’t rooted in a real appraisal of this changing calculus, it’s just hand-waving masquerading as wisdom.

DagAgren 7y ago

These fires are on a scale that is unprecedented. But they are also not an isolated event, and they will continue from now on, and get worse. Forests have not evolved to deal with that.

hazz99 7y ago

These fires are significantly worse than they should be, not to mention our average summer heat rising & the fire season lengthening every year. We are Australia, we have fires every year. We understand that forests burn naturally, and we understand what that looks like. It's taught to every second grader during fire season. This isn't that.

donavanm 7y ago

I suspect the articles point is more the scope, frequency, and magnitude of these changes. The fires are just one symptom. The city of Sydney being down to 40% of its water supply, and plausibly down to 20% this year. The Murray-darling basin is, bluntly, fucked. And regards to your “pithy” comment I do believe you’re off base. FWICT ecologists, biologists, and foresters are at a bit of a loss. We’re losing territory that simply doesnt burn in the normal cycle. To quote myself, The fires have been much larger and hotter than typical. The vegetation that does regrow probably wont be the same as we lost, ie pyrophillic scrubland replacing forrest. The fires are also destructive enough to destroy pyrophytic plants that would resist previous bushfires. Both of these are going to disrupt the regrowth of the ecosystem in unexpected/abnormal ways. Concern is that it leads to a long term cycle of more, hotter, larger fires and permanent habitat loss.

pjc50 7y ago

The forest may regrow, although on a scale of decades rather than next year. Not all the animal species will come back. What will definitely not grow back is the 2,000 homes destroyed.