Myth Busters
One thing about researching for this column is that I have found that many of the arguments put forward by people, especially when they are about contentious issues, are simply not true. Here are a few of these myths.
Barmah heritage horses. The feral horses in the Barmah Forest wetlands are descendants of a team of redundant half-draft horses released into the forest in the 1940’s. This is why they are a little bigger than the feral horses found elsewhere. Calling them ‘heritage horses’ is misleading. There are better bred domestic half-drafts.
Solar farms change the climate. They do change the climate….about the same amount as a ploughed paddock. If we are worried about the panels changing the climate perhaps we should also stop ploughing paddocks.
The sound of wind turbines cause illness. While some people claim the turbines make them ill, there is no scientific proof this actually occurs.
Wind turbines kill birds. Yes, some birds are killed due to flying into the turbine blades. Conventional power stations also cause bird deaths. Per gigawatt generated conventional power stations kill more birds that wind turbines.
The cessation of duck shooting will cause a plague of ducks. There is no evidence to support this. However, there is clear evidence that waterfowl numbers in Victoria have been steadily falling. The only evidence of a duck plague I can find is in the early 1960s was when a failed attempt to grow rice at Humpty Doo in the NT provided a waterfowl smorgasbord. The ducks and magpie geese simply ate the rice as it was sown.
The cessation of hardwood logging will result in more devasting bushfires 1). The people who say this are saying that the forests will become over-grown and will burn more easily than managed forests which are regularly logged. The CSIRO found that it is the managed forests that pose the greater fire risk. Unlike managed forests, mature forests have trees of different heights, making it more difficult for fires to ‘crown’. Mature forests have an understory of shrubs and plants and have a layer of leaf litter. These absorb and store moisture and create a more humid microclimate in the forests, making them less fire prone. When a forest is clear felled the understory plants and the leaf litter are destroyed.
The cessation of hardwood logging will result in more devasting bushfires 2). With logging stopped the logging tracks will become overgrown, making it difficult to fight fires. Yes, many logging tracks are being left to go back to nature, however key tracks are being kept open for park management and recreational purposes. Since the tragic loss of two fire crews in the 1998 Linton fire, the CFA, DEECA and Parks Victoria have changed the ways in which fires are fought. Today, fire crews will not be sent along the logging tracks, even if they passable.
Stopping cattle grazing in the high country will result in more fires due to the ungrazed vegetation becoming a fire hazard. The cattle never ate the alpine grasses; they are too tough and have little nutrient value. They grazed upon the herbaceous plants such as clovers and buttercups. These only ever grow to a little above ankle height and remain green and luscious over the summer months.
It is projected that climatic conditions are the biggest factor affecting fire risk. The current conditions are similar to previous bad fire years. It is now predicted that we are in for a fiery summer. The ‘armchair experts’ will cite various reasons for the fires when it is simply the weather pattern that has developed.
