Fires in Australia

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I imagine koalas can run from a fire very fast. However, the numbers don’t make sense. They estimate 1000 koalas died and then say that there is a population in NSW of 18000. That would still leave 17000. Do koalas only live in NSW? No question that the fires destroying the habitat have an impact, but it sounds a bit sensational to me speaking about extinction of the koala. At least at this point. Of couse koalas are at risk of extinction the same way as all other species, including us.
 
I imagine koalas can run from a fire very fast. However, the numbers don’t make sense. They estimate 1000 koalas died and then say that there is a population in NSW of 18000. That would still leave 17000. Do koalas only live in NSW? No question that the fires destroying the habitat have an impact, but it sounds a bit sensational to me speaking about extinction of the koala. At least at this point. Of couse koalas are at risk of extinction the same way as all other species, including us.

The problem with koalas is the same as with giant pandas. They have a limited diet and are therefore very sensitive to habitat destruction and environmental changes. They also reproduce at a very rate making it difficult to replenish the population after a major hit like this. Fact is, the koala was already on a slide before these fires so it's not just the fires. They are exacerbating an already alarming situation.

 
Of couse koalas are at risk of extinction the same way as all other species, including us.

And I don't agree that all other species are at risk. Many creatures, even some mammals, can probably survive this mass extinction. Like the Cretaceous and Permian mass extinctions, there will be survivors and once the cause of the mass extinction is gone and things start to reset, we will see a whole new world emerge via evolution. Minus us. And that's the crux. Dominant species don't generally survive mass extinctions and we hold that place right now.
 
And I don't agree that all other species are at risk. Many creatures, even some mammals, can probably survive this mass extinction. Like the Cretaceous and Permian mass extinctions, there will be survivors and once the cause of the mass extinction is gone and things start to reset, we will see a whole new world emerge via evolution. Minus us. And that's the crux. Dominant species don't generally survive mass extinctions and we hold that place right now.
Oh, for sure. I am convinced there will be a spike in the population of flies, rats and crows.
 
The problem with koalas is the same as with giant pandas. They have a limited diet and are therefore very sensitive to habitat destruction and environmental changes. They also reproduce at a very rate making it difficult to replenish the population after a major hit like this. Fact is, the koala was already on a slide before these fires so it's not just the fires. They are exacerbating an already alarming situation.

Thanks for that link. It certainly will be good advertising to use the cute koala to push the subject of climate crisis. Whatever works. I always pictured Australia as having lots of uninhabited land, but maybe that land is not very koala friendly. And the area of livable land will certainly decrease as the climate crisis continues.
 
. I always pictured Australia as having lots of uninhabited land, but maybe that land is not very koala friendly

It's not. Fact is, the interior and much of the North are desert. The forests tend to be concentrated along the coasts which is also where humans tend to be concentrated. Rather like Canada. Lots of empty land, not much of it usable for habitation.
 
Oh, for sure. I am convinced there will be a spike in the population of flies, rats and crows.

Ants and spiders. Animals like coons that are highly adaptable. The smaller, more generalized, and adaptable a species, the more likely it is to survive us.
 
Dominant species are bonded to dependency of the support system ... allowing the psyche side of BDSM to emerge! It may resemble PTSD by times ... a darker force of mystery! There are people that deny mystery and in the elimination of such ... the unknown grows and fattens!

Allows the reemergence of anu ... a poorly understood word from the past ... put down by precedent of capital corrupted tyranny! Such is the game of gamma ... obscurity, or obliteration? One must enter there to see its inner operations ... a move frightening the crap out of commoners ... Jons and Joansis!

Mire word play or god dance of word in the dark corners of psyche being reordered ... while we're psycho somatic, a pathologic condition ... resting in turn for the roll and awakening to the great change ... apocalypse? Some say then we'll understand all the mysteries ... in a flash or streak through the marketplace --- the irreverent Rae St Evens! He is now said to be politically incorrect!

You cannot critical of the hype've MS ... more of the same? Meme chose ...
 
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Fact is, the interior and much of the North are desert

Much of the interior has sparse vegetation or desert. The far north is tropical. I worked in Darwin for two very hot years and the climate was divided into the Wet and the Dry. For approx. six months it rained just about every day -and for approx. six months we didn't have any rain. The Wet was worst -due to the humidity......
 
I've been thinking of you Pilgrim - every time I read a bit on the news about the fires. This morning I read that houses were burned in Sydney - twenty I think. Also read about your PM 'deserving' a holiday. Methinks it is the firies who deserve that! (Loved that word for firefighters when I came across it)!
 
Thanks for your concern from so far away........

Our NSW premier has declared a state of emergency for the next seven days- things are that bad.
Yesterday the temperature was 40 degrees plus centigrade in parts of Sydney and even hotter away from the coast. Many folks have attended Emergency centres at our hospitals with heat stress, asthma and breathing difficulties -due to the pollution from bushfire smoke.
Homes are continuing to be lost -over 800 in the state so far - and this morning we heard that two firies have died.

It's almost that the city I love has become another place, one I barely recognize.......
(And don't get me started on our Prime Minister!)
Here's a link -
 
Pilgrim - this situation is appalling (but the attitude and self serving behaviour of your PM is more appalling!). As noted elsewhere online - the Royal family stayed right in the thick of the battles on the home front during WW2. Hoping everyone stays safe while the firies keep up the battle.
 
I was born after WW2 - and Australia has changed so much - not just the climate, but in society and government as well.
When I was young we led the world in many social issues - a decent basic wage, votes for women, strong unionism, the prevailing attitude was "a fair go for everyone".

These days we're like the U. K. and the USA - many working folks are struggling to make ends meet. They're both bewildered and angry at feeling so helpless. They've turned on the party they traditionally supported -who are perceived to care more for the middle-class then them, and voting for the party that supports big business as a show of protest.. They also are looking for a scapegoat for their dire situation -and are becoming racist, rather than blaming their real enemy -the party of big business.
Our Prime Minister is rather like both Trump and Johnson - very nationalistic and ramping up fears about asylum seekers and refugees etc.

It's very depressing....

Sad to say, as our recent election showed, the middle-class and wealthy are more interested in preserving their own better situation than paying higher taxes to support our most vulnerable. Society is becoming polarised - which leads to fragmentation. Social media plays its part in this fragmentation, and a feeling of community spirit has all but disappeared - replaced by "me and mine".

End of rant.......
 
I was born after WW2 - and Australia has changed so much - not just the climate, but in society and government as well.
When I was young we led the world in many social issues - a decent basic wage, votes for women, strong unionism, the prevailing attitude was "a fair go for everyone".

These days we're like the U. K. and the USA - many working folks are struggling to make ends meet. They're both bewildered and angry at feeling so helpless. They've turned on the party they traditionally supported -who are perceived to care more for the middle-class then them, and voting for the party that supports big business as a show of protest.. They also are looking for a scapegoat for their dire situation -and are becoming racist, rather than blaming their real enemy -the party of big business.
Our Prime Minister is rather like both Trump and Johnson - very nationalistic and ramping up fears about asylum seekers and refugees etc.

It's very depressing....

Sad to say, as our recent election showed, the middle-class and wealthy are more interested in preserving their own better situation than paying higher taxes to support our most vulnerable. Society is becoming polarised - which leads to fragmentation. Social media plays its part in this fragmentation, and a feeling of community spirit has all but disappeared - replaced by "me and mine".

End of rant.......

Is social thinking approaching a psychic state of collapse .. when there will be no labour left to carry out the chit known as bits of knowledge and information? The downfall that sets us back 1000 years so as to re ignite something or other! Sparkies in the abstract hue ... Christmas Eve's lessons are forgotten essences of hopes and dreams! The AD am thing should be NU sed ... at a SEDER ... surrounded by an insane harem scarem ...

Madness prevails for the time being ... is there hope for becoming something else ... elsewhere? Out there ...
 
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