Quote:
Originally Posted by snowyskiesau
This also reminds me of the enourmous size of our country as well as the extremes of temperature and weather.
I'm typing this from Cockle Creek in Tasmania which is as far south as the road goes in Australia. A sign reminds me that I'm closer to Antarctica than I am to Carins.
While I'm reading about floods in Victoria, bushfires in Western Australia and a week of 35+ degree days in Sydney, it's been a chilly 5 degrees overnight.
Who'd live in any other country?
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Gosh
Geoff, very well said!
Really makes one stop and think.
This thread has been full of great responses. A couple I got a bit worried about
,
Craig really made me stop and think with his well written post, and I have to thank
Warren on a fabulous job in steering this thread into a constructive discussion.
Thank you all for your input.
Warren, your joke was funny
, thankyou. I just love a bit of light hearted humour in a thread as it makes more people at ease to post.
At the time I didn't want to respond with just a laughing emoticon (I try not to spam
), so instead wanted to incorporate my response into my post here.
Primarily, my motive was for you'll to read this poem of course, purely because it's so Australian and so moving. Secondly, I was curious about the weather patterns we have today- if the media were driving it towards global warming, or is it in fact a natural occurence. I perceived the later to be the case in the poem after reading it. I was just looking for some good old constructive input.
And you'll behaved yourselves well
.
I agree with many on this thread, we are the lucky country and there is no other place I'd rather be. I guess in particular, if you've travelled the world or immigrated as I have, it makes one quite aware of that.
A few months back, hubby, my daughter and myself did a trip to Warwick. And none of us could believe (we've never seen anything like that before) how the mountain ranges were absolute saphire blue. The contrast was so striking against the lush green grass. That amazing view was in site for a good part of our drive. When we finally got to Warwick, we asked our friend why it was so. She went on to explain that it's the vapors from the Eucalyptus trees. We have so much beauty in our country.
Meanwhile, I came across this story in the ABC Science Page on Cyclone Yasi.
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articl...07/3132144.htm
It explains well what I was wondering.
Quote:
Cyclones are an annual event across the Australian tropics, but some years are worse than others due to seasonal weather patterns.
According to Kepert, Australia has more cyclones during La Niņa weather patterns because of warmer sea surface temperatures, however this won't increase storm intensity.
Other contributing factors can help generate cyclones including a surge in easterly trade winds which could increase cyclonic rotation, he says.
"There's also the Madden-Julien Oscillation weather pattern blowing east along the equatorial belt slowly moving clouds and rain. Scientists are still debating the origin of these winds."
"The oscillation is linked to a doubling of cyclone activity, but is neutral at the moment, so we can't blame it for Yasi".
While some have linked the cyclone to climate change, Kepert says we don't have enough information yet to support this view.
"[Climate change] certainly increases sea surface temperatures, but other changes such as atmospheric circulation offset this.
"The theoretical evidence indicates a gradual increase of about 10 per cent in cyclone intensity. But it could mean a slow drop in the number of cyclones, especially the weaker ones."
Queensland goes through periods of intense cyclones following relatively quiet times lasting one or two centuries, says Nott.
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im very greatful that i live in OZ 
