Of course tearing out old stuff and replacing it with modern stuff would have worse effects on vegetation and possibley accelerate global warming-related changes. So will the fires mean any changes in how insurance co.s cover stuff?
DoreneC
On Mon, Feb 9, 2009 at 10:41 AM, Ian Rogers <ianrogers7 at bigpond.com> wrote:
> Wojtek Sokolowski wrote:
>
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7878106.stm
>>
>> [WS:] Strange that they blame "arsonists" for that. I find it hard to
>> believe - it is just too many fires at the same time. I think the arsonist
>> trope is diverting public attention from a more likely human culprit of so
>> many deaths - sprawled settlements. Bush fires are a natural phenomenon,
>> but building homes in areas prone to such disasters is very risky (albeit
>> very profitable for developers).
>>
>
>
> The severe fires to the north and east of Melbourne on Saturday were in the
> foothills of the Great Dividing Range (actually, not that Great ...), say
> 50km or so from the bayside centre of Melbourne, and overwhelmingly the loss
> of houses was in and around small old timber towns, minor farming hamlets
> and localities that appeal to the lifestyle set. One of the largely razed
> towns appears to have been a haven for the alternative set in the 1970s (mud
> brick houses and so on).
>
> In other words, no developer housing is affected. There is ample room for
> housing development on the farmland that surrounds the city.
>
> As for arson as a cause, all I know is that cop, academic, media and
> popular myth holds that this is a very common cause of bush fires in
> Australia.
>
> If looking for a take away from this episode another angle may be whether
> or not the record breaking temperatures in south-eastern Australia over the
> last week or two provides any local evidence of global warming. Insurance
> companies and numerous scientists appear to take it as a given that it is.
>
>
> Ian (safe and sound in inner Melbourne).
>
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