Australian wildfires fan argument over impact of arsonists

We already know from previous fires that arson is a major contribution. Why even argue? Just manage all risk vectors equally, and that includes climate change, or what ever else.

Arson!

Its one of many causes, there's been heaps of arsonists arrested - add in carelessness like throwing cigarettes out of windows, build up of fuel in the forests due to lack of government maintenance, then the extended drought and not o mention the Eucalyptus trees are loaded with volatile oils.

And don't forget the recent Canberra fires started by a helicopter's landing lights. Does that make it 181 cases?

What's to blame for scores of wildfires devastating Australia's southeast?

There's an increasingly bitter face-off between those who say arson and those who fault climate change.

Each side has powerful backers and their weapons of choice are often fabrications and part-truths that have spread in time with the fires in recent weeks

The article then goes on to describe the fabrications and half truths of the climate change denier side, and then one fabrication/half truth that a climate change denier insists that the 'other side' is telling that bears all the hallmark of being a strawman argument (take something truthful that the other side says, add your own ridiculous layer on top of it, point out that ridiculous layer, and act like you've disproved the original truth) and one standard practice (fire maps contain both the areas of active burning AND the areas that were burned this season, as anyone who, like me lives in a fire zone knows) that the climate change deniers see as deceptive.

So where are the fabrications (and half truths) of those pointing out that science clearly indicates that climate change is playing the significant role in the severity of this year's fire season in Australia?

A AP FactCheck, a partner in Facebook's Third Party Fact Checking program, looking at misinformation on Facebook and Instagram, links the statistic to a statement by police in New South Wales — the worst fire-affected state — that said “legal action” had been taken against 183 people since November for “bushfire-related offenses.”

These included only 24 people charged over “deliberately-lit bushfires.” Legal action — which includes cautions — had also been taken against another 100 people for conduct that could be described as being careless during a fire ban. The statement did not detail the offenses alleged against the remaining 59 suspects.

Swinburne University of Technology arson expert Troy McEwan cautioned that three fires that killed 42 people in Victoria during a wildfire emergency in 2009 had initially been wrongly blamed on arson.

“Certainly a significant proportion of bushfires are deliberately lit in Australia,” she told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

“We need to be open to the idea that it could be caused by arson, but, equally, it’s not helpful to say these fires are always caused by arson or the majority of them are because the reality is, it seems, that most very large fires are not caused by arson,” she added.

“When someone like Donald Trump Jr or any celebrity endorses such a narrative, it can gain traction very quickly because everyone looks at what these celebrities post on and what their opinions is and that can be very dangerous.” Keller said.

The firefighters say it’s mostly lightening strikes. I think they know what they are talking about. Combine that with dry conditions and the lack of a comprehensive forest management program.

Read "The Death of a Wombat" by Ivan Smith with illustrations (the best versions) by Clifton Pugh and a forward written by H.R.H. The Duke of Edinburgh (really). Ground level experience of what Australia is feeling now. You'll thank me, especially if you are a child collecting permanent memories of your childhood. This book will enter them as epiphany.