Perspective
Putting my fannish woes in perspective, my state has just suffered/is suffering the most devastating bushfires in its history. There are at least 65 dead, and the toll will rise. 700 homes are lost and the number will increase. Among the lost townships, are:
- Marysville, a beautiful, idyllic mountain village I used to holiday in as a child--95% of the town is burnt to the ground
- Kinglake/Wandong, an area I drove through two weeks ago to go berry picking--burnt out cars litter the Kinglake road, including a four-car collision
- the Yarra Valley, where acres of vineyards have been lost
- the outer suburbs of Melbourne also got hit with some fires sweeping so fast that people had no time to get out.
There are some horrific stories coming out of these places, and the fires are still raging. What triggered this? A day of hell with the temperature rising to 46 degrees, the hottest in our history, with winds gusting at 70km an hour, no humidity to speak of. With air that dry and winds that fast, and then the winds changing rapidly, these were always going to be tinderbox conditions.
There is little left to say except that I hope we do not see a day like this again in my lifetime. But with global warming, the chances are we will.
- Marysville, a beautiful, idyllic mountain village I used to holiday in as a child--95% of the town is burnt to the ground
- Kinglake/Wandong, an area I drove through two weeks ago to go berry picking--burnt out cars litter the Kinglake road, including a four-car collision
- the Yarra Valley, where acres of vineyards have been lost
- the outer suburbs of Melbourne also got hit with some fires sweeping so fast that people had no time to get out.
There are some horrific stories coming out of these places, and the fires are still raging. What triggered this? A day of hell with the temperature rising to 46 degrees, the hottest in our history, with winds gusting at 70km an hour, no humidity to speak of. With air that dry and winds that fast, and then the winds changing rapidly, these were always going to be tinderbox conditions.
There is little left to say except that I hope we do not see a day like this again in my lifetime. But with global warming, the chances are we will.