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Wednesday, November 17, 2021

GOOD NEWS ARACHNOPHILES
Assassin spider that was feared extinct after bushfires discovered on Kangaroo Island

Researchers say the sighting brings hope the arachnid, also known as the pelican spider, has survived
An aerial photo taken on 16 January, 2020, shows Kangaroo Island after the bushfires. The assassin spider was feared extinct following the fires.
 Photograph: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images


Donna Lu
Wed 17 Nov 2021 

A recent sighting of the Kangaroo Island assassin spider, feared extinct after the disastrous 2019–20 bushfires, has given researchers new hope for the survival of the species.

Assassin spiders belong to an ancient family that dates back tens of millions of years. So named because they prey on other spiders, the invertebrates are also known as pelican spiders for their unusually elongated necks and jaws, which they use to impale their prey.

The Kangaroo Island assassin spider, about 5mm long, was only known to live in the Western River wilderness protection area, which was completely destroyed by the 2019–20 bushfires.

“That was burnt at high severity to such an extent that there was no vegetation, no organic matter at the site,” said Dr Jessica Marsh, who has been studying invertebrates on the South Australian island for 13 years.


‘Overlooked’: 14,000 invertebrate species lost habitat in Black Summer bushfires, study finds

After months of surveys of unburnt areas nearby, a research team discovered two assassin spiders in September, on a patch of leaf litter 4km from their previously known habitat.

The team is keeping the precise location of the sighting confidential for the time being.

Marsh, an honorary research associate at the South Australian Museum, said: “That we found one after all this time – it was really a moment that will stick with me. It was very powerful.”

Marsh said the Kangaroo Island assassin spider was vulnerable to even low-severity fires. The species lives in leaf litter suspended in low-lying vegetation, which burns readily when bushfires hit.

She said only an estimated one third of all invertebrate species in Australia have been discovered, posing a major conservation challenge. “For two thirds of species, we have no way of assessing their conservation risk or knowing if they’ve gone extinct.”

Marsh said while people were aware of the importance of pollinators such as bees, there was “general political and public apathy towards invertebrates”.

“They’re vitally important to ecosystem function but they also largely ignored,” she said, citing the role of detritivores in breaking down leaf litter and recycling nutrients into the soil, and predators and parasitoids that help to regulate ecosystems.
The Kangaroo Island assassin spider was feared extinct following the 2019-2020 bushfires. 
Photograph: Dr Jessica Marsh / South Australian Museum

“It’s really likely that the Kangaroo Island assassin spider isn’t the only one that’s been severely impacted [by the fires].”

A report published last month found that more than 14,000 species of invertebrate lost habitat as a result of the 2019-20 bushfires, and recommended a doubling of the number of species listed as threatened.

“I think with invertebrates, a lot of people don’t have any emotive connection to them. They either mostly ignore them or actively dislike them,” Marsh said. “When you get to work closely with a species and you get to know and respect them, you do build up an emotional connection.”

The Kangaroo Island team will continue surveying for more sightings that might increase the assassin spider’s known range.

Feral pig activity in the north west of the island threatens their survival, in addition to fire.

It was important to prevent the pigs from digging up vegetation and in around creek lines, which would help to protect the spider, Marsh said.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2023

 Australian bushfires may have helped trigger La Nina



AFP
Issued on: 10/05/2023 - 

















The research found the Australian bushfires of 2019 and 2020 pumped out emissions on a scale similar to major volcanic eruptions © PETER PARKS / AFP

Sydney (AFP) – Australia's "Black Summer" bushfire catastrophe coughed up so much smoke it may have fuelled the global onset of La Nina in 2020, according to new research published Thursday.

The report, in peer-reviewed journal Science Advances, said the bushfires were "exceptional" in their severity -- pumping out emissions on a scale similar to major volcanic eruptions.

It suggested this led to the formation of vast banks of cloud over the southeastern Pacific Ocean, which soaked up radiation from the sun and led to the cooling of surface water temperatures.

These disruptions could have helped trigger the start of an unusually long La Nina weather pattern, the researchers found.

The "Black Summer" bushfires raged across Australia's eastern seaboard from late 2019 to early 2020, razing swathes of forest, killing millions of animals, and blanketing cities in noxious smoke.

A rare "triple-dip" La Nina shaped global weather patterns between September 2020 and March 2023, whipping up a series of devastating tropical cyclones while exacerbating droughts in other parts of the planet.

Researchers John Fasullo and Nan Rosenbloom, from the National Center for Atmospheric Research in the United States, used modelling to demonstrate how emissions from the bushfires could shift weather patterns.

Bushfire smoke is laden with particles that act as "condensation nuclei", which attract water molecules in the atmosphere, seeding the formation of clouds.
Atmospheric impact

This blanket of cloud could cause "widespread surface cooling" in the tropical Pacific Ocean, the modelling showed, which is one of the key ingredients for the start of La Nina.

"The results here suggest a potential connection between this emergence of cool conditions in the eastern Pacific Ocean and the climate response to the Australian wildfire emissions," the paper stated.

Australian climate scientist Tom Mortlock said the bushfires caused clouds to form in a part of the Pacific that plays a crucial role in global climate regulation.

"The southeast corner of the Pacific is a really sensitive and important area for what goes on with El Nino and La Nina," he told AFP.

"Often we see the first signs of an El Nino or La Nina forming in that part of the ocean."

Pete Strutton, from the Australian Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes, said it demonstrated the sheer scale of the bushfires.

"We've got an event that happened on the land in southeast Australia, which is having an impact on the atmosphere," he told AFP.

A separate team of British researchers last year found that the "Black Summer" bushfires spewed millions of tonnes of emissions into the atmosphere, likely aggravating the Antarctic ozone hole.

Global weather patterns oscillate between cooling La Nina and warming El Nino cycles -- with neutral conditions in between.
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Thursday, January 02, 2020

Australia's raging bushfires are smothering New Zealand with smoke

Australians have been choking on smoke for weeks as enormous bushfires rage across the country. Now, that thick blanket of haze has descended upon their neighbours, with New Zealanders waking on New Year's Day to a very apocalyptic-looking 2020.
Smoke from Australia's fires blew 1,200 miles southeast across the Tasman Sea, smothering New Zealand's South Island and turning the sun an ominous red on Wednesday. People all across the island reported the strong smell of smoke, from Christchurch to Queenstown and beyond. 
"It's been happening for quite some time since the Aussie bushfires have been going," meteorologist Aidan Pyselman told New Zealand news website Stuff in an article published Dec. 31. "At the moment it's definitely more noticeable, especially over the South Island."
The haze also travelled up to the North Island, covering New Zealand's capital Wellington with a gray veil. Fortunately it had thinned a bit by Thursday, and the skies are expected to clear up further as wind blows the smoke out over the Pacific Ocean. 
However, New Zealanders won't be able to breathe easy just yet. Smaller plumes of smoke will continue to harass the country until Sunday, and it's likely that attacks on New Zealand's air quality will remain a threat until Australia's fires die down.
Australia's bushfires have killed 18 people, including seven in New South Wales over the past week. At least 1,400 homes have been destroyed and 11 million acres burned, with almost half a billion animals believed dead.
The unprecedented bushfires have been fuelled by hot, dry conditions across the country. Drought, strong winds, and record-breaking heat have baked Australia into perfect kindling — conditions many Australians blame on climate change.
“Just a 1C [1.8 degrees Fahrenheit] temperature rise has meant the extremes are far more extreme, and it is placing lives at risk, including firefighters,” former NSW Fire and Rescue chief Greg Mullins said in November. “Climate change has supercharged the bushfire problem.”

 NZ glaciers


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Tuesday, September 01, 2020

California is on fire. From across the Pacific, Australians watch and buckle up

by David Bowman, Ross Bradstock, The Conversation

wildfire
Credit: CC0 Public Domain
California is ablaze, again. Currently, the second and third largest fires in the US state's history are burning at the same time, and are only partially controlled. Already, seven people have died and 2,144 structures are damaged—and their fire season still has months to run.


The outbreak continues a relentless trend of bigger and more destructive fires in the western US, including California' largest fire in 2018.
For Australians, the spectacle of California burning is deeply concerning. It's just months since our last fire season, concentrated in a band of eucalyptus forests along the continent's southeast coast.
There are strong parallels between the two disasters: drought, parched landscapes, high temperatures, prolonged heatwaves and dry lightning storms to set it all off. And both Australia and California are particularly vulnerable as  makes bushfires worse. So let's look at the fiery fate we share with those across the Pacific—and how we must all adapt.
An uncertain future
We know bushfires are being made worse by  and climate change. But, owing to a lack of long-term data and the  between humans, climate and fire, it's hard to predict exactly how fires will change—for example how frequent or severe they will be, how long fire seasons will last and how much land will burn.
In research published last week, we describe recent trends in fire activity and examine projections for the near future. From this, it's clear the global impact of bushfires due to human-induced climate change will intensify.
Among the areas expected to be worst hit are flammable forests in populated , such as Australia's eastern states and California.
Climate is not the only driving factor here. Human changes to landscapes—such as urban sprawl into flammable forests—are also making fires worse.
The damage is not just environmental, but also economic. Already, Australia's last  season is likely to be our most expensive natural disaster, costing around A$100 billion. And the California fires in 2017–2018 caused an estimated A$55 billion in structure losses alone.
The escalating threat demands an urgent rethink of our inadequate and inappropriate fire management strategies. These span land use planning, fuel management, communications, evacuation and firefighting capacity. All are constrained by complex administrative arrangements, limited physical and human resources, and poor budgets.
Climate change also raises the frightening scepter of a "positive feedback" loop in which climate change exacerbates fire, producing carbon dioxide emissions which worsen climate change further. This vicious cycle threatens to fundamentally alter the Earth system.
What's more, fire seasons in southern Australia and the western US increasingly overlap. As California burned last week, uncontrolled winter bushfires ripped through northern New South Wales. Australia is sending firefighters to California this time around. But as fires increasingly rage in both hemispheres simultaneously, our respective nations will have fewer firefighting resources to share.
The COVID-19 crisis is making these difficult circumstances even more challenging. For example in California, authorities are dealing with both the fires and the pandemic; the state reportedly has the highest number of infections in the US.
Firefighters must practice social distancing: that means fewer people in each vehicle and no communal eating or sleeping arrangements. And Australian firefighters will be forced into quarantine for two weeks upon their return home.
Accepting reality
In this context, recommendations handed down by the NSW bushfire inquiry last week are a landmark in how we adapt to bushfires. Central to the report is an avowed acceptance  change is transforming bushfire management.
The report contains 76 recommendations, all accepted by the NSW government, providing creative license to rethink how we sustainably co-exist with bushfires. They include:
  • reforms of arrangements to manage bushfires, such as better coordination between agencies, better shared data and streamlining fuel management programs
  • trialing new approaches to reducing fuel loads, fighting fires and managing smoke pollution
  • involving Aboriginal people in managing landscapes
  • maintaining the safety and mental health of those on the frontline such as  fighters, first responders and affected citizens
  • improving disaster management through improved training and work practices for firefighters, better communication, new technologies and investing in equipment.
The scope and scale of the recommendations underscores the huge task ahead of us.
Importantly, underpinning the recommendations is a clear commitment to analyzing which approaches work, and which do not. This accepts our current state of knowledge is partial and imperfect.
Our fire-filled futures
Co-existing with a flammable landscape is a massive and complicated task—a fact California is now being brutally reminded of. Australia can lead the way globally, but to do this requires significant investment in bushfire management to build the necessary tools, techniques and talent.
Climate change is making bushfire seasons longer, more dangerous and socially demanding. Like it or not, we have embarked on the bushfire adaptation journey, and there is no turning back.
The question now is, how far do we go? All Australians must turn their minds to this critical social and political challenge.Climate change 'clearly' fuelled Australia bushfires: inquest
 by The Conversation 
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.The Conversation

NASA's Suomi NPP satellite shows two views of California's smoky skies

by Lynn Jenner, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
NOAA/NASA's Suomi NPP satellite shows two views of California's smoky skies
Image taken by Suomi NPP on August 30, 2020 shows the smoke and fires in California. Credit: NOAA/NASA
NOAA/NASA's Suomi NPP satellite captured two images that tell the story about the smoke coming off the fires in California. One instrument on the provided a visible image of the smoke, while another analyzed the aerosol content within. The images were captured on August 30, 2020.
The first image captured by the Suomi NPP satellite using the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) Corrected Reflectance imagery shows a true-color image (called true-color or natural color because this combination of wavelengths is similar to what the human eye would see) of the wildfires still burning across large swaths of the state. Smoke is pouring off the fires and traveling in two different directions. Some of the smoke is traveling northeast into Nevada and as far east (in this image) as Salt Lake City, Utah, and some is traveling west into the Pacific Ocean.
The second image was captured by Suomi NPP with the OMPS Aerosol Indexer and shows not only the direction of the smoke's travel but the thickness of the  layer that has moved outward from the fires. The OMPS (Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite) Aerosol Indexer on Suomi NPP is an instrument that indicates the presence of ultraviolet-absorbing particles in the air coming from dust (desert) or, as in this case, soot from fires. The Aerosol Indexer found on the image as a scale is unitless, that is, the lowest and highest range do not relate directly to each other. It just indicates whether the scale is low or high. In this image of smoke coming off the California fires, the aerosols found were mostly in the moderate range (yellow) with some higher range areas (red). Higher concentrations can reduce visibility and impact human health. The Aerosol index is also useful for tracking long-range transport of these aerosols that move along jet streams.
NOAA/NASA's Suomi NPP satellite shows two views of California's smoky skies
Aerosols are tracked by the Suomi NPP satellite using the OMPS instrument as seen in this image of the California wildfires taken on August 30, 2020. Credits: NOAA/NASA
NASA's satellite instruments are often the first to detect wildfires burning in remote regions, and the locations of new fires are sent directly to land managers worldwide within hours of the satellite overpass. Together, NASA instruments detect actively burning fires, track the transport of smoke from fires, provide information for  management, and map the extent of changes to ecosystems, based on the extent and severity of burn scars. NASA has a fleet of Earth-observing instruments, many of which contribute to our understanding of fire in the Earth system. Satellites in orbit around the poles provide observations of the entire planet several times per day, whereas satellites in a  provide coarse-resolution imagery of fires, smoke and clouds every five to 15 minutes.
NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Worldview application provides the capability to interactively browse over 700 global, full-resolution  imagery layers and then download the underlying data. Many of the available imagery layers are updated within three hours of observation, essentially showing the entire Earth as it looks "right now." Actively burning fires, detected by thermal bands, are shown as red points.
Explore further
NASA's Terra Satellite shows smoky pall over most of California
Provided by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center 

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Saturday, February 15, 2020

DOWN UNDER FIRE AND FLOODS BUT NO LOCUSTS

FEBRUARY 13, 2020

Heavy rains are great news for Sydney's dams, but they come with a big caveat

by Ian Wright and Jason Reynolds, The Conversation

Heavy rains are great news for Sydney’s dams, but they come with a big caveat
The authors crossing the Coxs River during very low flow last September. Author provided
Throughout summer, Sydney's water storage level fell alarmingly. Level 2 water restrictions were imposed and the New South Wales government prepared to double the capacity of its desalination plant.
But then it began to rain, and rain. Sydney  storages jumped from 41% in early February to 75% now – the highest of any capital city in Australia.
This is great news for the city, but it comes with a big caveat. Floodwaters will undoubtedly wash bushfire debris into reservoirs—possibly overwhelming water treatment systems. We must prepare now for that worst-case pollution scenario.
Reservoirs filled with rain
The water level of Sydney's massive Lake Burragorang—the reservoir behind Warragamba Dam—rose by more than 11 meters this week. Warragamba supplies more than 80% of Sydney's water.
Other Sydney water storages, including Nepean and Tallowa dams, are now at 100%.WaterNSW report that 865,078 megaliters of extra water has been captured this week across all Greater Sydney's dams.
This dwarfs the volume of water produced by Sydney's desalination plant, which produces 250 megaliters a day when operating at full capacity. Even at this rate, it would take more than 3,400 days (or nine years) to match the volume of water to added to Sydney's supply this week.
But then comes the pollution
Thankfully, the rain appears to have extinguished bushfires burning in the Warragamba catchment for months.
But the water will also pick up bushfire debris and wash it into dams.
Over the summer, bushfires burnt about 30% of Warragamba Dam's massive 905,000 hectare water catchment, reducing protective ground cover vegetation. This increases the risk of soil erosion. Rain will wash ash and sediment loads into waterways—adding more nitrogen, phosphorous and  into water storages.
Waterways and ecosystems require nutrients like phosphorous and nitrogen, but excess nutrients aren't a good thing. They bring contamination risks, such as the rapid growth of toxic blue-green algae.
Drinking water catchments will always have some degree of contamination and water treatment consistently provides high quality drinking water. But poor water quality after catchment floods is not without precedent.
We've seen this before
In August 1998, extreme wet weather and flooding rivers filled the drought-affected Warragamba Dam in just a few days.
This triggered the Cryptosporidium crisis, when the protozoan parasite and the pathogen Giardia were detected in Sydney's water supplies. It triggered health warnings, and Sydneysiders were instructed to boil water before drinking it. This event did not involve a bushfire.
The Canberra bushfires in January 2003 triggered multiple water quality problems. Most of the region's Cotter River catchments, which hold three dams, were burned. Intense thunderstorms in the months after the bushfire washed enormous loads of ash, soil and debris into catchment rivers and water reservoirs.
This led to turbidity (murkiness), as well as iron, manganese, nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon in reservoir waters. The inflow of organic material also depleted dissolved oxygen which triggered the release of metals from reservoir sediment. At times, water quality was so poor it couldn't be treated and supplied to consumers.
The ACT Government was forced to impose , and built a A$38 million water treatment plant.
Have we come far enough?
Technology in water treatment plants has developed over the past 20 years, and water supply systems operates according to Australian drinking water guidelines.
Unlike the 1998 Sydney water crisis, WaterNSW, Sydney Water and NSW Health now have advanced tests and procedures to detect and manage water quality problems.
In December last year, WaterNSW said it was aware of the risk bushfires posed to water supplies, and it had a number of measures at its disposal, including using booms and curtains to isolate affected flows.
However at the time,  ash had already reportedly entered the Warragamba system.
Look to recycled water
Sydney's water storages may have filled, but residents should not stop saving water. We recommend Level 2 water restrictions, which ban the use of garden hoses, be relaxed to Level 1 restrictions which ban most sprinklers and watering systems, and the hosing of hard surfaces.
While this measure is in place, longer term solutions can be explored. Expanding desalination is a popular but expensive option, however greater use of recycled wastewater is also needed.
Highly treated recycled water including urban stormwater and even treated sewage should be purified and incorporated into the water supply. Singapore is a world leader and has proven the measure can gain community acceptance.
It's too early to tell what impact the combination of bushfires and floods will have on water storages. But as extreme weather events increase in frequency and severity, all options should be on the table to shore up drinking water supplies.

Dams overflow as Australia braces for more floods

FEBRUARY 13, 2020


Recent downpours have brought chaos and destruction to towns and cities along the eastern seaboard
Recent downpours have brought chaos and destruction to towns and cities along the eastern seaboard
Dams near Sydney overflowed Thursday after days of torrential rain, as Australia braced for more storms expected to bring dangerous flash flooding to the country's east.
Recent downpours have brought relief to areas ravaged by bushfires and drought—as well as chaos and destruction to towns and cities along the eastern seaboard.
On Thursday, Nepean Dam south of Sydney was at full capacity and spilling over, with  showing excess water cascading over the dam wall and downstream.
Two other dams in New South Wales, Tallowa and Brogo, were also overflowing and more dams could reach capacity in the coming days, a WaterNSW spokesman told AFP.
Sydney's dams have seen  spike dramatically—the Nepean was just a third full less than a week ago—though many inland areas are facing severe water shortages missed out on the flows.
A devastating months-long bushfire crisis that killed 33 people has effectively been ended by the downpours, with just one blaze yet to be brought under control in New South Wales.
Hundreds of people have been rescued from floodwaters in recent days.
Police said a man's body was discovered in a flooded river on Queensland's Sunshine Coast on Thursday, though the cause of his death was not immediately clear.
Wild weather is set to ramp up again from Friday, with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting ex-Tropical Cyclone Uesi would bring "damaging to destructive winds" and heavy rainfall to remote tourist destination Lord Howe Island.
Senior meteorologist Grace Legge said storms were also expected for Queensland and New South Wales—with areas still recovering from bushfires likely to be hit again.
"Any showers and thunderstorms that do develop are falling on already saturated catchments, so there is a risk with severe thunderstorms of flash flooding," she said.
Emergency services have warned residents in affected areas to be cautious in the dangerous conditions.
FEBRUARY 11, 2020

Floods fail to end Australia's years-long drought



rain
Credit: CC0 Public Domain
Heavy rain has given hope to Australia's drought-stricken regions, but scientists warned Tuesday sustained falls were needed to end a years-long dry spell.
Stormy weather has brought days of chaos and destruction in the country's east, with one man missing after his car was swept off a road in Sydney's north and hundreds more rescued from floodwaters.
In the small town of Stanthorpe, Queensland, Tracy Dobie said the rain had been "a boost for everyone".
"But the  has not ended," the regional mayor told AFP.
"Our land is so dehydrated—we've gone three years without rain in some places and five years in others—it's going to take a long time to get moisture back in the soil."
Hydrologists believe this week's deluge—which has caused flooding and doused many fires—is a taste of things to come, with cities getting inundated while  struggle to offset worsening droughts.
Professor Ashish Sharma from the University of New South Wales said heavy rain can give people in cities a "twisted view" of the impact, as water builds up on hard surfaces.
Even as people in cities see flooding and property damage, in rural regions sustained rainfall is needed to soak through the dry soil before dams fill.
During the latest downpours—the heaviest in 30 years in some areas—dam levels near Sydney have risen dramatically.
But most of New South Wales' drought-hit towns facing down a water "Day Zero" had seen "negligible" increases, as much of the rain was flowing into rivers not dams, said a spokesman for WaterNSW, which manages the state's .
"Unfortunately (that is) largely because the volume hasn't been sufficient and the catchments are extremely dry after a very hot start to the summer and a prolonged drought," he said.
Despite climate change driving increases in extreme rainfall, Sharma and his team predict it will not be enough to keep up with rising temperatures.
Moderate and frequent floods, which form "the backbone of all our  supply", will likely decrease, Sharma said.
"I just hope that people have the wisdom and the foresight to realise that this should not be seen as a sign of not needing to act," he added.
Dobie said the rain was more than welcome but "one  event doesn't close the door on the drought".
"We need a year of average rainfall."
FEBRUARY 10, 2020

Downpours to end Australia bushfires within days 

UH NO



The catastrophic bushfires have left dozens dead and devastated vast swathes of the country since September
The catastrophic bushfires have left dozens dead and devastated vast swathes of the country since September
Australia's months-long bushfires crisis will likely be over within days, officials said Monday as heavy rainfall extinguished several massive blazes and was forecast to douse dozens more as downpours swept south.
Days of torrential rains have caused flash flooding in New South Wales and Queensland, dampening once-raging fires that volunteers had battled in vain for months.
Sydney experienced its wettest period in 20 years amid several days of  that led to chaotic scenes across the city.
The Bureau of Meteorology said 391.6mm (15.42 inches) of rain fell in Sydney over the past four days—the highest total in such a period since 414.2mm were recorded in February 1990.
Several major bushfires have been extinguished by the deluge, including a "mega-blaze" that burned through 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) north of Sydney and a similar-sized  to the city's south, bringing relief to residents and firefighters.
New South Wales Rural Fire Service spokesman James Morris said about 30 fires were still burning Monday, but it was expected they would soon be extinguished as the rain moves south in the coming days.
"By the end of the week it's likely they will be out," he told AFP.
Drought-stricken areas across the country's east also received welcome downpours but more sustained and widespread rainfall will be needed to offset a years-long dry spell.
The stormy weather has brought days of chaos and destruction, with one man missing after his car was swept off a road in Sydney's north and hundreds more rescued from floodwaters across the state.
Police said a search was under way for the missing man Monday but no sign of him or his vehicle had been found.
Several rivers, including the Parramatta River in Sydney's west, overflowed while residents living near Narrabeen Lagoon in the city's north were ordered to evacuate late Sunday amid fears their homes could be inundated.
Emergency services scrambled to respond to calls for assistance as strong winds uprooted trees, ocean foam coated seaside homes and boulders fell on parked cars.
Almost 90,000 homes remained without power Monday, with utility providers warning it could take days for electricity to be restored in some areas.
The Insurance Council of Australia said insurers had received an estimated Aus$45 million ($30 million) in claims by early Monday, with that figure expected to rise as the full extent of the damage becomes clear


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Monday, September 14, 2020

AUSTRALIA
Conspiracists say lasers and exploding smart meters used to start bush fires to make way for a new train network

15 Jan, 2020 
Thousands of Australians appear to believe lasers and exploding smart meters are being used to start fires to make way for a new train network. Photo / Supplied
news.com.au 

By: Ben Graham and Peter Bodkin


Thousands of Australians appear to believe lasers and exploding smart meters are being used to start our bushfires to make way for a new train network.

A Storyful investigation with news.com.au has found the conspiracy theory has spread far and wide on social media — with "directed-energy weapons" (DEWs) posts being shared tens of thousands of times in the past few weeks.

Those who believe the theory say the bushfires in this unprecedented season are being started using weapons which harness the focused power of technology such as lasers or microwaves, news.com.au reports.

And, many of the posts claim the fires have been deliberately started by a shadowy global elite in order to clear land for a high-speed rail network from Brisbane to Melbourne.

The deadly bushfires have also been seized on by networks of local and international conspiracy theorists, many of whom claim the fires are part of UN-led global plot to depopulate the world and seize control for a one-world government under the guises of climate change.
Conspiracy theorists claim Australia's bush land is being cleared for a high-speed rail network. Photo / Supplied

As part of this wider conspiracy, theorists believe the alleged high-speed rail network will force all of us into big cities where we can be controlled by the government.

Posts to Facebook show bright lines — supposedly laser beams — emanating from unsourced and unverified pictures of Australia's bushfires to back up their argument.

The admin of one of the largest Facebook conspiracy pages wrote that residents in bushfire-affected communities say forests around their homes "just exploded out of no-where".

Theorists have also been sharing maps that show parallels between the locations of the fires and the supposed high-speed rail network.

One blog post from a fringe conspiracy theory site State of the Nation linking the bushfires to the "global warming hoax" has made a huge impact on social media.

It is unclear if this pic has been doctored. Photo / Supplied

The article titled 'OPERATION TORCH AUSTRALIA: A Special Report on the Geoengineered Firestorms and DEW-triggered Arson Fires' claimed to draw "striking parallels" between the fires and previous wildfires in California.

The post, alongside others from the site linking the Australian fires to directed-energy weapons, had been shared thousands of times on Facebook.

They were spread through a network of local and international pages, many of which were themed around deep state conspiracy theories, chemtrails or 5G networks.

And it's not just Star Wars-style lasers they reckon are starting the fires.

In one case, a Facebook user whose profile said they lived in Byron Bay shared a post to the Stop 5G Mid North Coast group with the comment: "Smart meters can be activated to explode."
It is claimed these bright lines are created by high-powered weapons. Photo / Supplied

One of the most active pages in Australia sharing conspiracy theories linking the fires to directed-energy weapons and various alleged government plots has been the Higgins Storm Chasers page which, despite having only around 10,000 followers, generates thousands of shares and reactions for its posts.

Several of these posts claimed to display evidence of energy weapons being used in the fires – such as photos of trees burning on the inside – with one post adding it showed "geoengineering not climate change".

While Facebook has moved to crack down on misinformation around some topics such as vaccinations, there appears to be little stopping the spread of conspiracy theories surrounding bushfires on the platform.

Similarly, conspiracy theories around the fires have flourished on YouTube, with some videos also running ads on the platform, allowing channels to make money while spreading misinformation around the bushfires, including that they were designed to make way for a planned high-speed rail link between Australia's cities.

Australian conspiracy theorist Max Igan, who has generated nearly a million views for his series of videos decrying the "Australian Holocaust".
'Exploding smart meters' have been blamed for the fires. Photo / Facebook

In one, Mr Igan claimed that an unspecified cabal had been "spraying this country with accelerants" while also deliberately drying the continent to create "the perfect storm".

"They're going to blame all this on climate change … they intend to genocide this country," he told viewers.

The video had been shared more than 12,000 times on Facebook alone.

Dr Will Grant – a senior lecturer in science communication at the Australian National University – believes these theories were being spread by the far right.


"The theory aligns with ideas there's a deep state (a clandestine government) out there armed with secret weapons," he said.

Dr Grant believes it is gaining traction because of the "extreme" polarisation between the political left, often associated with city living, and right, often associated with rural living.

"This high-speed rail conspiracy comes out of the idea the left and the government want us to live in cities with a smaller carbon footprint and closer to work, and many on the left say this is a good thing," he said.

"However, what we're seeing here is the far right taking this to an extreme – saying 'they're forcing us to be vegan and live in apartment' – which is obviously not true."
It's claimed that this picture (of unknown origin) proves trees were ignited from the inside. Photo / Supplied

He said the theories around "exploding smart meters" and 5G being used for nefarious purposes play into "legitimate" concerns around big corporations and the data they have on us.

"We should be careful, because this is ripe ground for a conspiracy theorist," he said. "What they are doing is taking a legitimate truth and playing it up, adding paranoia, and making it into something else."


Another concern is that foreign governments are spreading these conspiracies to exploit cracks in Western nations about climate change.

"We've seen this with the Russian troll army in the US," Dr Grant said.

"Now we're not America in terms of size and influence. But what's obvious is that, right now, there's a huge crack in Australian society about climate change and how to deal with it.

"It could be exploited as another crack in the ability of Western countries to have democracy, so I wouldn't be surprised if a state actor was interested in this."


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