Mother Nature has PMT for sure in Australia

[lisa_spyder]

Oh this is ridiculous!

Most of Victoria is flooded; Sydney is sweltering in 40 degree C heat; cyclone Yasi is still moving inland with severe weather warnings for Alice Springs; bushfires threatening homes in Perth.

In the last week we've had remnants of cyclone Larry, that big mother Yasi, flooding here in Vic and over in WA, bushfires in Vic at the same time as the flooding (got stuck coming home from NSW coast because of a big one in East Gippsland) and other stuff I can't recall at the moment.

Victoria is wet, wet, wet in most parts. Some townships are going under today for the FOURTH time in a few weeks .

We got over 90mm of rain in a few hours. I gave up with the rain gauge as it overflowed not long after that. Other areas got over 200mm (the same areas that were flooded only a couple of weeks ago). Any of the low lying areas here are under water and the highway between us and Melbourne was swamped yesterday.

Wish Mother Nature would just take a chill pill...enough already!

[flatbutt]

but you're ok Lisa? if we can help , I hope you know we're here for ya.

[lisa_spyder]

We're fine this time round thank you.

House is a bit wetter than usual on the inside but no real damage. Just too much water all at once for the guttering to cope with. It was literally pouring in over the top of the windows in a couple of rooms and the kids and I went into 'operation mop-up' pretty quickly. Mike cracked it and went up the extension ladder in the rain with the cordless drill and shoved holes in the spouting . I was screaming at him to let the whole place flood - screw it; there was lots of lightening at the time!

Workshop was fine - but some of our work neighbours farther down the street were knee deep. The Holden Dealer at the bottom of the street fared badly. All the cars in the showroom had water up to the door handles.

There's a lot of water all over the place. I just feel so deeply for the people who are going through this for the 2nd, 3rd or even 4th time in a few weeks.

[lisa_spyder]

Check it out:

[Flieger]

I heard about the sharks in the streets.

It is climate change finally catching up to the world. More extreme weather is the tell-tale for the greenhouse effect.

[Chocaholic]

Originally Posted by Flieger

I heard about the sharks in the streets.

It is climate change finally catching up to the world. More extreme weather is the tell-tale for the greenhouse effect.

Was only a matter of time...

[nynor]

i had to look it up PMT = PMS.

the weather there is crazy, for sure. are sharks good eats?

[lisa_spyder]

Beat me to it Mike...

Max,

Sorry but I am not a climate change believer, nor am I a hard-nosed skeptic.

What I do believe however is that weather patterns are cyclic and because of population increase we are more affected by them. In developed areas this is particularly problematic as areas that should never be built on have been.

We are seeing development of land around the fringes of Melbourne that was earmarked many years ago as green wedge land. A lot of the areas flooded to the southeast of Melbourne (massive tracts of housing estates) was/is swamp and land subject to inundation. I do not believe that any amount of engineering, retarding basins, re-routing of water flow etc will beat the natural water course when there is a lot of water. We are seeing the water go where it would otherwise have naturally gone anyway.

Even in our little sleepy hollow here I have seen the historical flood maps AND the changes made to accomodate the developers...there is a whole new industrial estate about to be built here and the land has spent the best part of last year either under water or boggy. Can't wait to see what happens when the rains hit there after the development is complete .

It would also help a whole lot if the bloody councils would maintain the storm water drains! There never seems to be any money for this now and there is a fear of policital incorrectness about flushing the system as used to happen when I was a kid. The fire hydrants used to be thrown open a couple of times a year and blocked drains were identified and cleared. That just doesn't happen now; plus the metro system is under stress due to population increase anyway.

As for fires and cyclones...well it's a big country and we all live primarily all around the coast as it's so dry in the middle. So we're going to live among the forests and in the tropics and keep developing areas that are at risk.

More than anything I see that we are going to have to find ways to live with the natural order of things and not try to beat this natural order. If this means we don't rebuild in areas that have been hit hard by fire, flood, cyclone etc then so be it. Equally if we're going to ignore the natural order, then we're going to have to deal with the cost both human and financial every time.

[lisa_spyder]

Originally Posted by nynor

i had to look it up PMT = PMS.

the weather there is crazy, for sure. are sharks good eats?

Fixed it for you ...tension vs stress = one angry female either way

The good ol' standard fish at the fish and chip shop is flake...and that comes from shark as far as I know. Delicate taste; not strong in flavour - good for the kids! Tastes fine battered and fried, or grilled. Tastes best when I buy it fresh at the market and cook it myself .

[Flieger]

Sharks Swimming in Australia's Flooded Streets : Discovery News

[lisa_spyder]

This is Queens Road in Melbourne. To the left of this pic is the golf course which abutts Albert Park Lake. Albert Park is of course, the site of the Australian Grand Prix. The whole of Albert Park Lake was closed yesterday including the roads used as part of the GP circuit. Thankfully there are a few weeks before the GP; but usually the infrastructure install starts very soon.

[slodave]

Originally Posted by lisa_spyder

Beat me to it Mike...

Max,

Sorry but I am not a climate change believer, nor am I a hard-nosed skeptic.

What I do believe however is that weather patterns are cyclic and because of population increase we are more affected by them. In developed areas this is particularly problematic as areas that should never be built on have been.

While I believe the climate naturally over time, we humans are really ****** it up. Causing the change to be more rapid and worse.

I hope things settle down (or is it up?) soon for all of you.

[Flieger]

I do agree that climate changes naturally, but not at the rates we are seeing in the industrial era. I think that the billions of humans burning stuff, putting fertilizer in the oceans, plastic in landfills, etc. must be doing something. The hole in the ozone layer did start closing after CFC use was restricted. They have a shorter life cycle in the atmosphere than other stuff so the results of a change in output were easier to see.

That said, I still like driving the 911, MFI and rich mixture and all.

The bigger issues are things like coal power plants putting all that toxic mercury and such into the air and ocean. That is why all the warnings on seafood like Tuna steaks, swordfish, etc.

[Flieger]

After a week of this back in the fall, without air conditioning, I became more convinced.

[slodave]

Lets not push the issue too much, Max.

Lisa, again, I hope things get better soon!

[HardDrive]

Let me know when it comes to this:



(Just kidding. We've got friends in Gold Coast. Terrible situation.)

[lisa_spyder]

Originally Posted by Flieger

I do agree that climate changes naturally, but not at the rates we are seeing in the industrial era. I think that the billions of humans burning stuff, putting fertilizer in the oceans, plastic in landfills, etc. must be doing something. The hole in the ozone layer did start closing after CFC use was restricted. They have a shorter life cycle in the atmosphere than other stuff so the results of a change in output were easier to see.

That said, I still like driving the 911, MFI and rich mixture and all.

The bigger issues are things like coal power plants putting all that toxic mercury and such into the air and ocean. That is why all the warnings on seafood like Tuna steaks, swordfish, etc.

Max,

I don't disagree with any of what you have said. Industrialisation coupled with population boom is indeed helping things along. More precisely, consumerism and peoples' basic lack of care about their environment. By environment I don't mean entirely in the 'green and global' sense; more basic and close to home habits are easy to change. Pick up your own garbage; buy items with minimal packaging; buy whitegoods etc with the best energy ratings you can afford etc...like charity, environmental awareness needs to begin at home . However, I do not believe the 'sky is falling' as we are being told to believe.

But I tell ya...there are massive anomalies everywhere...why do we farm old growth forests for wood chips for paper pulp when there is a glut of plantation timber here? That royally pisses me off... AND why are we building a desalination plant here in Victoria that will be the SINGLE biggest user of power in the State? This project alone will keep our dirtiest brown coal power station from closing anytime soon. I'll stop there...I'll take this thread way OT and into PARF all by myself if I am not careful...

Dave,

While I believe the climate naturally over time, we humans are really ****** it up. Causing the change to be more rapid and worse.

You are, as usual, splendidly economic with your words . That about sums up my take on things also...

HardDrive,

MAD MAX....yeah when it gets to that we are truly ****ed!

[D911SC]

Originally Posted by Flieger

I heard about the sharks in the streets.

It is climate change finally catching up to the world. More extreme weather is the tell-tale for the greenhouse effect.

Funny thing about the shark story is that my 9 year old son asked me whether it was possible for a shark to swim up from the ocean and into the streets. This was before the media reported just that - I just laughed and said "no way". The next day this story came out. He just looked at me with a face that said "See, I am smarter than you Dad"

[lisa_spyder]

Haha!!! Are you smarter than your 4th grader???(I'm guessing - has he started year 4 this year?)

When it was reported over the radio I really thought it was a hoax...at least they had the good taste to swim PAST McDonalds!

[D911SC]

That's funny! Actually my son has just started 5th grade.