Fires around Sydney

[LittleFish1976]

This is a useful website to check air quality anywhere in the world.

aqicn.org

[OzKiwiJJ]

57 minutes ago, possum52 said:

Please do come. Tourists are very welcome and wanted. If you are concerned about your respiratory issue, talk to your doctor about it and bring a mask to use as lucymorgan suggested in above. Keep watching the weather forecasts for Sydney (www.bom.gov.au/nsw/). The following link is a webcam which shows Sydney Harbour, you can see what the conditions are - https://webcamsydney.com/ -  there is a dust haze over Sydney today.

 

Enjoy your cruise and don't feel guilty about having a good time.

 

Leigh

 

 

 

I agree, although I suggest getting a P2.5/N99 mask rather than the one suggested earlier. They are better at filtering out the smoke particles.They are available from Amazon and there is plenty of different styles to choose from. However chances are you won't need to use it but better to be prepared. We've just had several days of glorious weather and clear air in Sydney and hopefully today's haze will blow away overnight.

 

Have a great time of your cruise. Most of us here would be cruising right now if we didn't have other commitments. 😁

[Responsible Cruiser]

2 hours ago, Teddy116 said:

But, with all the tragic events (weather, human, and animal) it seems so trivial to go on pleasure trips when so many are suffering.   I don't know what to do.

I can relate to this. While I understand that tourism generates income for many people, I am worried about how much my travelling contributes to climate change. I often feel guilty because of it.

[Dobby_The_Ship_Elf]

3 hours ago, possum52 said:

6pm news stated the crew members were from the USA and the plane was from Canada. It is such a dangerous job to do.  The company which owns the aircraft has grounded three others to check them to make sure it was not a mechanical issue.

 

Condolences to the crew's family.

 

Leigh

 

I know those guys ...... it is tragic!

 

The community is so small and tight knit, lots of people are hurting

 

I am sick to my stomach

[OzKiwiJJ]

47 minutes ago, Dobby_The_Ship_Elf said:

 

I know those guys ...... it is tragic!

 

The community is so small and tight knit, lots of people are hurting

 

I am sick to my stomach

😢 {{{{{hugs}}}}}

[Brisbane41]

7 hours ago, in rod we trust said:

what is to blame here for all these condition's that are now happening around the globe in there summer or winter season's  .. 

I have heard stories from global warming to co2 emission green house gasses  , pollution, cattle methane , council's governments , etc  ..  what do people think and think its from .. 

 

me I don't believe in climate change as the earth has been changing since day one .. but in saying that I do believe we have accelerated the problem tho ..  

As far as I am concerned this fire season has been a disaster waiting to happen and has been creeping up on us for years.

 

I do not appreciate the climate change extremists blaming it solely on that. They are only going to do the cause a disservice and turn reasonable people against them.

 

Australia needs large scale hazard reduction burns to prevent fires. More than 30,000 years of Aboriginal land management tells us this. Personally I would trust an Aboriginal on this one over a University educated top level scientist. 

 

People want to blame climate change. That was one factor. Combine that with the drought, extreme dry weather, lack of hazard reduction burns, lack of land clearing and the warming planet then it is a recipe for disaster. It is a culmination of things coming together not just one single cause.

 

As far as climate change goes Australia's emissions are minuscule in the scheme of things. I believe China emits more than 30% of the worlds carbon emissions and they are only emitting more. All the changes we have made for climate change like our solar panels, hot water, energy efficient light bulbs, recycling has all been undone by China's actions alone. The one major benefit Australia could make for climate change is closing down all our extremely dangerous coal fired power stations and accepting and embracing a limited amount of nuclear. If Britain can use 16% of their power generation with nuclear and survive with renewable's making up the rest then it is not unreasonable for Australia to do the same. Unfortunately the greens will say no to this. Even today the greens showed their true colours by labelling the Prime Ministers announcement about hazard reduction a "distraction" the greens don't want hazard reduction and they don't want nuclear because it will mean when all the coal fired power stations are gone the greens will lose their legitimacy.

[The_Big_M]

19 minutes ago, Brisbane41 said:

 

 

People want to blame climate change. That was one factor. Combine that with the drought, extreme dry weather, lack of hazard reduction burns, lack of land clearing and the warming planet then it is a recipe for disaster. It is a culmination of things coming together not just one single cause.

 

 

 

 

Let's check the other factors you note:

Combine that with the drought - climate change. We've always had droughts, but this is far more severe - why, climate change.

extreme dry weather,  - climate change

lack of hazard reduction burns, - there were hazard reduction burns. Sure, there could have been more but given the funding constraints from the government, and weather conditions they did as many as they could.

lack of land clearing - 1) mass land clearing encourages climate change 2) if you mean local, that's covered in hazard reduction

and the warming planet - again, climate change

 

So your outcome is pretty apparent even though dressed up in a more complicated manner.

[possum52]

7 hours ago, Dobby_The_Ship_Elf said:

 

I know those guys ...... it is tragic!

 

The community is so small and tight knit, lots of people are hurting

 

I am sick to my stomach

Dobby, I am so sorry for your loss. Hugs to you and your community. Is this the field you work in or live in? ❤️❤️❤️
 

Take care,

 

Leigh

Edited January 23, 2020 by possum52

[NSWP]

Tragic the loss of the 3 Americans in the air tanker, that aircraft was involving in firefighting at Batemans Bay early in the new year, saved us. RIP.   We dodged another bullet yesterday, fires in Vista Ave, Catalina, 100M from us lit up again, we were ready to evac but stayed on.  Moruya where my daughter lives was hit again.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Good to hear you're still OK, NSWP. I was concerned when I looked at the fire map yesterday. How is your wife faring with all this stress added to her health issues?

[MicCanberra]

15 minutes ago, Brisbane41 said:

I will try and find the link but there is a good website in the Northern Territory that explains hazard reduction burns in great detail and even details it for all of Australia which actually tells you when you can burn and for how long it protects from fires. It is not 100% fire proof but it is a system that works and explains everything. The information you have from the above is actually false information designed to malign hazard reduction burns. That is possibly a lie started by the greens about it being too dangerous. In fact from April last year NSW could have been burnt in areas all the way until August and it would have reduced the fuel load and nothing would have regenerated at the extent the extremist greenies are claiming. I will find the website given time, but I can assure you that a lot of what the greenies are saying about hazard reduction burns and the small window of opportunity is a lie.

I hardly think you can compare the in penetrable (by anything other than aircraft) escarpment of the blue mountains in south eastern Australia that has happened with the burns that happen around Uluru. 

[NSWP]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Good to hear you're still OK, NSWP. I was concerned when I looked at the fire map yesterday. How is your wife faring with all this stress added to her health issues?

Thanks for your concerns. She is not going too well, stressing out a bit, like us all down here.  When it settles down, we will go up to Sydney for a few nights R&R and do a cruise on the Manly Ferry again or perhaps to Watsons Bay for a luncheon - no travel insurance required, not that we can get it anyway.

Edited January 24, 2020 by NSWP

[NSWP]

In my opinion Commissioner of NSW RFS - Shane Fitzsimmons should get a knighthood for his leadership and compassion, as should the bloke in the same position in Victoria.

 

On another note...Apart from the air tanker that went down yesterday near Cooma, 3 on board killed, last night 6 RFS personnel received serious injuries when their fire appliance vehicle rolled over at Princes Hwy and Tomakin Rd,  near Mogo, which is about 10 km south of Batemans Bay.  

Edited January 24, 2020 by NSWP

[Brisbane41]

20 minutes ago, NSWP said:

In my opinion Commissioner of NSW RFS - Shane Fitzsimmons should get a knighthood for his leadership and compassion, as should the bloke in the same position in Victoria.

That is a hard job to fill. It is also a hard one.

 

From my perspective being ex-Navy the military should have been called up earlier. He should have had that power but he didn't, either wasn't aware of it or the system he has to use did not allow it. Also complicating matters is the legality of the federal government getting involved in state affairs. You have the media running a hate campaign against the prime minister blaming him for lighting the fires, blaming him for not putting them out, blaming him for everyone else's mistakes and taking the blame for all the wrong decisions.

 

When the state of disaster was declared there appeared to be no system to liaise between states, call up the military and other resources and deal with the situation.

 

Yes he has a tough job. I think his powers were limited considerably to the state of NSW only and there needs to be changes and a chain of command established and in particular a method of cooperating with the federal government to call up resources like the military when needed.

 

Nothing against him personally, but the laws and procedures need changing here from what we have seen.

 

The only thing apart from the disaster that irritates me is the hate campaign we are seeing from the media about the prime minister when legally he was not the man in charge and had no authority to be in charge yet the media blamed him for all the stuff ups.

[ilikeanswers]

18 minutes ago, Brisbane41 said:

The greens claim they support hazard reduction burns but qualify "only if it is safe".

 

Why is that a bad thing? We have had full bushfires that started from hazard reduction burns so it seems reasonable to make sure it is safe.

 

I don't really like living in an echo chamber so I try to gather as many differing facts as possible and from what I heard and read it seems hazard reduction is no panacea to this problem. Yes there are fire-fighters who concur that certain areas could have had better use of prescribed burns but other areas the fire-fighters say they did the most that could be done for the conditions they had.

 

There is no doubt hazard reduction is part of mitigating this issue but to act like it is the sole solution the way our PM did is why people are so outraged. There are so many factors from land management practices, water mismanagement, drought, biodiversity reduction and the fact is climate change amplifies all these issues. Banging on about hazard reduction while will fully ignoring the other contributing issues is only going to help a few communities and personally I want something that is wider reaching. 

[Brisbane41]

1 minute ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Why is that a bad thing? We have had full bushfires that started from hazard reduction burns so it seems reasonable to make sure it is safe.

 

I don't really like living in an echo chamber so I try to gather as many differing facts as possible and from what I heard and read it seems hazard reduction is no panacea to this problem. Yes there are fire-fighters who concur that certain areas could have had better use of prescribed burns but other areas the fire-fighters say they did the most that could be done for the conditions they had.

 

There is no doubt hazard reduction is part of mitigating this issue but to act like it is the sole solution the way our PM did is why people are so outraged. There are so many factors from land management practices, water mismanagement, drought, biodiversity reduction and the fact is climate change amplifies all these issues. Banging on about hazard reduction while will fully ignoring the other contributing issues is only going to help a few communities and personally I want something that is wider reaching. 

That is what I have said and believed all along.

 

Climate change is not the be all and end all and is not the sole contributing factor here. It is a culmination of events, situations and circumstances that added up together to form a major disaster.

 

Fires in this country are nothing new. I have seen them all my life. I have seen the red skies as a child and lived in the smoke. I know it is something that is common for years.

 

The one thing I know for sure is that when the extremists on the left say it is 100% climate change, they are deluding themselves and alienating others and turning people off that whole issue entirely.

 

If the situation can be managed correctly and had been managed correctly the damage and intensity could have been far less.

[MicCanberra]

On 1/21/2020 at 12:01 PM, MicCanberra said:

Thought Batemans Bay's plea was quite funny.

 

Canberra's response

 

[MicCanberra]

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6594359/canberrans-channel-savage-garden-to-send-love-letter-to-the-coast/?fbclid=IwAR2HEKnPoLLKxKbsFyvyzL4hyohjV0aqtPX5Hj5utj8iF5rWXT-hMUC2Tuo

 

 

[Teddy116]

I've been watching all the Australian news for 5 weeks.  I'm in Florida, USA.  Scheduled for 2 cruises out of Sydney-  a Royal Caribbean "Voyager" cruise Feb. 16 and then an "Ovation" cruise to New Zealand on Feb. 29.  All paid for now.  Supposed to be a life-long dream, come true.  But, with all the tragic events (weather, human, and animal) ... [Seems like NSW and Victoria are getting hit by the "Plagues of the Bible".]

SO now I am researching P2.5/N99 Masks to be prepared for smoke and haze in Sydney and other points in Australia... BUT ...now the Coronavirus ??!!!  Do I wear a 'surgical mask' for that ?  What will you all do to protect yourselves?

[SinbadThePorter]

17 minutes ago, Teddy116 said:

now the Coronavirus ??!!!

 

You are probably just as much at risk in Florida from the Coronavirus as in Sydney.

 

Bring some masks for the smoke, but don't be surprised if you end up not needing them.

[Teddy116]

In South Florida, where I am there are not many Chinese visitors... except on cruises out of Ft. Lauderdale and Miami.  But, in Sydney don't you have many 1,000's of Chinese tourists coming for Lunar New Years and in general?

[Porky55]

37 minutes ago, Teddy116 said:

In South Florida, where I am there are not many Chinese visitors... except on cruises out of Ft. Lauderdale and Miami.  But, in Sydney don't you have many 1,000's of Chinese tourists coming for Lunar New Years and in general?

Of course we do, and kangaroos in the streets and koalas in our backyards. 😂

We don’t have anymore visitors, Chinese or otherwise for the Lunar New Year and not sure why you think we would? 
 

Australia will be no more at risk from Coronavirus than the rest of the world will be and Sydney is still a magnificent city even with a smoke haze - which will go soon. Look on the bright and happy side of life, enjoy your cruising and trip to our country - all will be fine (or manageable) by the time you arrive 👍

Edited January 24, 2020 by Porky55

[Chiliburn]

40 minutes ago, Teddy116 said:

In South Florida, where I am there are not many Chinese visitors... except on cruises out of Ft. Lauderdale and Miami.  But, in Sydney don't you have many 1,000's of Chinese tourists coming for Lunar New Years and in general?

It’s ok we have Paul Hogan here to protect us.

[SinbadThePorter]

7 minutes ago, Porky55 said:

Of course we do, and kangaroos in the streets and koalas in our backyards.

 

I used to have kangaroos in my street and koalas in my backyard. But that was some time ago, I think that they are extinct in my area now. ☹️

 

Anyway, Chinese New Years is a family celebration. Like Thanksgiving. People don't normally go somewhere exotic, they go home.

Edited January 24, 2020 by SinbadThePorter

[MicCanberra]

41 minutes ago, Teddy116 said:

In South Florida, where I am there are not many Chinese visitors... except on cruises out of Ft. Lauderdale and Miami.  But, in Sydney don't you have many 1,000's of Chinese tourists coming for Lunar New Years and in general?

The US have already had a Coronavirus confirmed, 

https://www.caixinglobal.com/2020-01-23/wuhan-virus-latest-china-reports-second-pneumonia-linked-death-101505300.html