Bush Fires in Oz national day of mourning -Climate change

Black is all I see
Where green and gold once cloaked the land
Where eucalypt and pine did stand
Where man did live and lay his hand
Now black is all I see
Where horses grazed and cattle drank
Where grasses lined the river bank
Where stood a house and water tank
Now black is all I see
There was a town with store and hall
Which proudly stood ‘neath ridges tall
Now nothing moves or lives at all
And black is all I see
There stood a home and there another
Where lived a daughter, father , mother
A sister, cousin, niece or brother
Now black is all I see
Our nation grieves and holds them tight
Throughout the darkness of the night
Till daybreak brings an ashy light
And black is all I see
“Poor fella, my country”
N.D. 11 FEB 2009



Australian expert says bushfires caused by "climate change"
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18:07, February 19, 2009

An Australian climate change expert said on Thursday the devastating bushfires in Victoria were the "fires of climate change."

Climate Institute chief executive John Connor said climate change was the cause of the bushfires.

"In our view what we have seen in Victoria, with such devastating ferocity, are the fires of climate change," Australian Associated Press quoted Connor as saying in Melbourne.

"The reality for firefighters and rural communities is that the rules that applied in the past to fighting and surviving bushfires have changed forever because of our warming planet," he added.

Victorian Premier John Brumby has already pointed to climate change as a factor in the fires, saying the climate is becoming more extreme.

But most experts and conservation groups have been more circumspect, saying climate change will cause more bushfires but it had not necessarily caused the Victorian blazes.