heating up and burning up

The last few days it has been too painful to watch the news. And am not talking about the crash in the global economy here. The biggest, nastiest fires have raged in countryside Victoria causing loss of human life. The fire has been destroying hundreds of homes and other premises, burning thousands of hectares of forest and farmland and leaving hundreds, if not thousands of people without place to live, without income to go back to, without community to live in, and too often without family and friends. It's all just so devastating and heart breaking.

These fires grew from small flames to massive big infernos covering huge areas in such a short timeline, it's scary. No or little warning was given to the residents to prepare for the worst - or evacuate their homes.

For fire to start it needs three basic things which are the components of 'fire triangle' - fuel, oxygen and heat. And the extreme weather patterns - high winds and prolonged period of over +40C heat provided plenty of the latter two. The fuel in the ground has been drying up due to the drought providing a 'good' fuel for any fire to feed itself. My question is, will we see horrible days like this more in the future due to rising temperatures and continuing drought? Is there anything we can do to change this - or prepare better, or do differently when fires do lit up?

For a good few years now government agencies together with the scientists and community groups such as CSIRO have been researching bushfire behaviours to help us answer the questions like I have. One of the largest recent projects, Project Vesta, has already released it's findings and helped us to assist ways how we can better

* manage fire in different vegetation types
* implement prescribed burning programs
* deploy effective suppression resources
* enhance fire-fighter safety.

Some findings from this extensive study have already been incorporated in the fire management agencies procedures and training of their staff and volunteers.

What I would like to see more is the research on better be able to predict the behaviour of fire on the fireground so we could quicker and more accurately warn and advice people in the impacted areas to act.

And maybe to know, what sort of impact the dier, hotter weather has on our fires - or the risk of having more of them.

If just the warmimg weather and drying up countryside doesn't shock people to act on climate change, maybe fear of extreme and fierce fires will?

And if you haven't yet donated to help the victims of the fire PLEASE do so at Red Cross Victorian Bushfire Appeal site.

Images courtesy of: Wikipedia, sosnews.org

National Recycling Week

Happy Recycling Week!

This week is a National Recycling Week. In the midst of our society which is driven by high consumerism, it is a great reminder for all of us that recycling has multiple benefits - for you, for our society and for our environment.

As we all are interested in 'me' here are a few things that you can do this week to improve your recycling credentials and see what benefits you can reap from this activity:

1) Trade your non-wanted items for money on eBay or Trading Post. One mans junk is other man's treasure. And it adds a few extra dollars into your pocket.
2) Donate your non wanted items for charity, or for great community initiatives such as Bower in NSW who are either grateful to take your 'junk' or refer you to someone else who needs it. Feel like a Good Samaritan and get rid of that old stuff filling in your cupboards.
3) Compost your foodscaps either indoors e.g. in Bokashi bin or outdoors in your compost or worm farm. Few months later you'll have free fertiliser for your plants and flowers.
4) Buy recycled products and products made from recycled materials. Not only are you supporting the recycling industry, but you can find real bargains and truly unique items when shopping for second hand goods. Plus products made from recycled materials makes your enviornmental footprint shrink a tad.

And what is the benefit for society and environment then?
By passing your non-wanted clothes, bags, old computer or television, washing machine or other equipment on to others, you are diverting materials from landfill and conserving resources and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
If you donate goods to charity, your old fridge or tv might end up with someone who really needs it but otherwise wouldn't be able to afford to purchase it.
And by purchasing products that are made from recycled content, you are also encouraging the growing recycling industry. And I am hoping that by bying more and more recycled content products we can build larger volume of demand, which in theory at least should drive the price of these products down.

So why not celebrate National Recycling Week by arranging a 'swap' party this weekend with your friends. I have a non-wanted fabulous looking 'SuperWoman' outfit in the cupboard if anybody is interested...first come, best dressed...

Happy Recycling!