Just a picture of what the bush looks like here. This isn't the southwestern jarrah forest (you'll know jarrah as eucalyptus...a favourite of the koala...it's also what the wooden beams in the main building on campus are made from, which caused a bit of controversy at the time apparently). But I definitely am planning to check out the forests at some point
as well. The southwestern jarrah forests are apparently one of the largest areas of forest that has remained untouched in Australia. It's started to be changed because of mining/forestry though, and a large section of our school is looking at it. It is heavily reliant on fire for natural processes, and seems to be suffering because people live closer to the forest and natural fires are put out before seeding, etc. can happen. The seemingly short bush-type-thing in the bottom corner of the picture is a relatively common thing to see here. It also needs fire in its proper life-cycle. During the winter, especially winters with the right amount of rain, there are a lot of prescribed burns since so many species rely on fire here.
We had a series of lightning storms the past couple of days that started a couple bushfires. I know where they are, and they are many kilometers away. At night, though, the cool air causes the smoke and ash, etc. to travel relatively low to the ground. It goes away during the day, because as the soil gets warmer the air gets warmer and rises. But in the middle of the night when you wake up and it smells like fire it seems really unnatural to go back to sleep without wondering whether it's close (there are alarms to tell you if it's actually close...they haven't been within at least 10 km's of my building...which seems close...but they don't move much...they just kind of sit there).
It seems that this winter is going to have an above-average rainfall, which would be very helpful. My wetland is slowly becoming...well...wet. And that's a good thing.
I'd also like to report that I find it somewhat amusing that my current outside temperature is less than the high reported for Toronto tomorrow! Apparently winter is really here! It's only gone below zero in Perth once in recorded history (or below 32 for those of you in Fahrenheit), but that was last year so who knows. It seems kind of contradictory that it was last year considering the area is warming and experiencing a drought, but I guess one day doesn't change that.
I realize I may have given some wrong information yesterday...or at least midleading. ANZAC Day is similar to Remembrance Day, but Remembrance Day occurs here as well...including the poppies! I think the poppies look different though. Remembrance Day is not a holiday, and doesn't receive as much attention, because ANZAC Day is used here as the official commemeration (I think Remembrance Day is more of a relic of being a British colony - Australia was a very new country - way more than Canada - when the first World War began, and when they chose there own day they still needed to keep the colonial commerative day as well; whereas Canada used Remembrance Day for a lot of other reasons too). They still do have a 2 minute moment of silence at 11:00 on November 11th, though, to remember the two World Wars.
as well. The southwestern jarrah forests are apparently one of the largest areas of forest that has remained untouched in Australia. It's started to be changed because of mining/forestry though, and a large section of our school is looking at it. It is heavily reliant on fire for natural processes, and seems to be suffering because people live closer to the forest and natural fires are put out before seeding, etc. can happen. The seemingly short bush-type-thing in the bottom corner of the picture is a relatively common thing to see here. It also needs fire in its proper life-cycle. During the winter, especially winters with the right amount of rain, there are a lot of prescribed burns since so many species rely on fire here.We had a series of lightning storms the past couple of days that started a couple bushfires. I know where they are, and they are many kilometers away. At night, though, the cool air causes the smoke and ash, etc. to travel relatively low to the ground. It goes away during the day, because as the soil gets warmer the air gets warmer and rises. But in the middle of the night when you wake up and it smells like fire it seems really unnatural to go back to sleep without wondering whether it's close (there are alarms to tell you if it's actually close...they haven't been within at least 10 km's of my building...which seems close...but they don't move much...they just kind of sit there).
It seems that this winter is going to have an above-average rainfall, which would be very helpful. My wetland is slowly becoming...well...wet. And that's a good thing.
I'd also like to report that I find it somewhat amusing that my current outside temperature is less than the high reported for Toronto tomorrow! Apparently winter is really here! It's only gone below zero in Perth once in recorded history (or below 32 for those of you in Fahrenheit), but that was last year so who knows. It seems kind of contradictory that it was last year considering the area is warming and experiencing a drought, but I guess one day doesn't change that.
I realize I may have given some wrong information yesterday...or at least midleading. ANZAC Day is similar to Remembrance Day, but Remembrance Day occurs here as well...including the poppies! I think the poppies look different though. Remembrance Day is not a holiday, and doesn't receive as much attention, because ANZAC Day is used here as the official commemeration (I think Remembrance Day is more of a relic of being a British colony - Australia was a very new country - way more than Canada - when the first World War began, and when they chose there own day they still needed to keep the colonial commerative day as well; whereas Canada used Remembrance Day for a lot of other reasons too). They still do have a 2 minute moment of silence at 11:00 on November 11th, though, to remember the two World Wars.
Labels: Bushfire, Miscellaneous, Weather, Wildlife
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