Recently one of our Federal Senators from New South Wales (Concetta Flerra Vanti-Wells) sent out a pdf booklet detailing various subjects ranging from China, Free Speech and Climate Change to name a few. She is unique in that she seems to be a realist and not one that follows the herd just to be accepted. The following is from Page 63.
‘Over the past decade there has been much said and written about man’s contribution to the warming of our planet, much of it characterised by emotive and alarmist language by those pushing their respective agendas. When asked whether you believe in climate change the answer is ‘yes’, because there has always been climate change on planet earth.
In August 2019, the media build-up of an impending hot, dry summer appears to have set the scene for the unhinged, including those with criminal intent, to act. It defies logic that the number of bushfires in different parts of Australia took hold so quickly and apparently all at once, thereby destroying property, livelihoods and wildlife and, in worst-case scenarios, causing the deaths of 33 people.
The history of our sunburnt country suggests that bushfires can start from lightning strikes, downwind spot fires from cinders in high winds, fallen powerlines, carelessness by citizens and, unfortunately, arson attack.
An article by Dr Paul Read, an ecological criminologist and sustainability scientist at Monash University published in the Sydney Morning Herald on 18 November 2019 that was titled ‘Arson, mischief and recklessness: 87 per cent of fires are man-made’. His article provides an excellent synopsis of the facts with respect to bushfires in Australia. It states that there are, on average, 62,000 fires in Australia every year and satellite studies have shown that lightning strikes are responsible for only 13% of all fires. He also cites 2015 satellite analysis of 113,000 fires from 1997-2009 which indicates that 40% of fires are deliberately lit and another 47% accidental.
Following is the full op-ed piece by Dr Paul Read of 18 November 2019: Carbon dioxide (CO2) has been much maligned by those who fail to acknowledge its importance to the health of our planet.
Plants and trees absorb CO2 and release oxygen. Also, phytoplankton in our oceans absorb CO2 and produce up to half of earth’s oxygen supply. We need the process and CO2 for our very existence on earth. To make informed scientific judgement with respect to climate, it is vital to have academic freedom; and, peer review remains integral to academic freedom. The politicisation of climate science has not only stifled debate but credible scientists have been ridiculed and marginalised for daring to pursue scientific methods and the conduct of peer review. The treatment of Dr Peter Ridd from James Cook University is only one case of how universities are trying to stymie or stop academic debate on climate change. They prefer outcomes that accord with the herd mentality against CO2. For the record, CO2 is not a pollutant.’ Page 63 from a PDF sent via email.