Is there a worse feeling than hitting an animal while driving? Feeling that bump somewhere beneath you and looking out the rearview mirror, only to see lifeless lump in the middle of the road. Seems the RACV has done a study into the numbers of animal-related accident claims in Victoria for the last year and of an estimated 3700 claims, 2636 of those involved kangaroos. Not really surprising given how erratically they behave when startled, but I couldn’t help but shake my head at a couple of statistics.

There were 186 claims involving wombats. For those of you who live outside Australia, wombats are fairly slow moving animals. Imagine a log that has decided to sprout legs and you have a meter-long bundle of fur that is a national icon. Hitting one of these little monsters is sure to fuck your suspension. What really gets me is how on earth you could explain how you hit the little bastard: “It just came out of nowhere, really really slowly!”

But the one that really gets me is that for 2006/2007, there were two claims for accidents involving ducks. Seriously. There are two people in Victoria who actually owned up to hitting a duck whilst driving AND felt the damage was significant enough to claim it against their insurance. My question is this: “How BIG was that duck?!?” All I know is if I were to hit a duck whilst driving and it caused significant damage, there is no way I would even consider admitting what I hit. Maybe something more believable like a pedestrian…

Food for further thought:

“Oh man, I just shot Marvin in the face.”
“What the fuck did you do that for?”
“I didn’t mean to do it. The car must’ve hit a duck.”
“The car didn’t hit no motherfucking duck!”

Yeah, take that one to the RACV.

December has been a very strange month here in Australia, especially in the south in Victoria where the bulk of the BEEZHOUSE crew is based. Unseasonably hot weather, coupled with an ever worsening drought has resulted in devasting bush fires across the state. Indeed, one day hit a maximum of 42.1 (108 old school). Not uncommon in Febraury and March, but not December. The bushfires across the state’s north-east and Gippsland areas have so far blacked out about 750,000 hectares, claiming a number of houses and threatening many townships, not to mention claiming a number of lives.

Thick bushfire smoke cloaked Melbourne on December 20, and as a result led the city to record its poorest air quality since records began. According to The Age newspaper, visibility was reduced to less than two kilometres in the Melbourne CBD and the measure of fine air particles soared up to 7.5 times its normal level, the EPA said. “What we’ve got is an easterly wind system blowing smoke from the bushfires into greater Melbourne,” John Williamson, EPA senior manager of rural services, said. The bushfires that began at the beginning of December have led Melbourne to record its poorest air quality in over 20 years, eclipsing the dust storms of 1983 and the 2003 bushfires, he said. “Certainly the smoke has resulted in the poorest air quality ever recorded since we’ve been recording in Melbourne,” Mr Williamson said.

The smoke has created a sense of doom and gloom across the city. It almost feels like Armageddon, or some such thing. The pictures available on the web don’t do any justice… indeed, the smell of smoke that lingered across the city had to be smelt, to be experienced, to be believed…

This in itself was surreal, but not as surreal as what followed. December 25. Christmas Day.

For three weeks, locals and firefighters had sat trapped, ringed by fire, alone and vulnerable at the top of Mount Buller. Day after day, the bush burned in the valley below, the flames making charge after charge up the slopes, fanned by hot winds. But then, at Christmas time, it happened. The winds eased, the prayed-for rains came, and the fire threat abated. On Christmas Day itself, it snowed. Lightly at first, but stronger as the day progressed, coating the mountaintop in an unseasonal white blanket. THIS was the Christmas miracle — or, at least, the Australian bush version.

As it snowed outside, those on top of the mountain sat down to Christmas lunch, and relaxed for the first time in more than three weeks. Country Fire Authority volunteer and Mount Buller local Carly Reudavey said the fire fight had been a stressful time for all. “It was intense up here for a long time, really intense. Nobody up here has had a day off in 25 days.” Luke Corbett said the rain and snow had been the break everybody needed. “It’s been pretty hard, the fire was burning out there, but there was smoke everywhere so you didn’t know exactly where it was, it was hot and windy. This (weather) has come at the exactly the right time.”

Elsewhere around the state, similar thanks were being given to a higher authority as the rain and cooler weather eased the fire threat. The Gippsland fire threat abated with the change in weather and the fire at Bright-Tawonga Gap also weakened. However, CFA state duty officer John Athorn warned that the fires would not be extinguished by the rain, and could flare up again quickly if conditions worsened.

A most surreal end, to the most surreal of months.

As you already know there are two countries which haven’t signed the Kyoto Treaty, the US (surprise surprise) and Australia!

What a shame! Some 120 + countries managed to sign it!

For a country that is really quite mordern and forward looking in its approaches, it is unbelievable that Australia will not support such a treaty. And why?

Simple. “It would cost jobs”, according to John Howard. Or maybe it had something to do with the fact that the US didn’t ratify the treaty either. Either way,what a joke, saying it would cost jobs. I remember years ago, actually now decades ago, someone saying Australia had the potential to become a banana republic. Maybe that comment, in light of its current stance on global warming is not so far from the truth.

Australia has so much potential to become a leader in environmental issues. It should already be leading the solar energy race, but it isn’t. It is far behind Western Europe on many other environmental issues. Australia is one of the highest emitters of greenhouse gases in the world on a per capita basis.

What a shame - isn’t it time to do something against this????

Well you can, but start small:

- Reduce your impact AT HOME
- Reduce your impact WHILE ON THE MOVE
- Help bring about change LOCALLY, NATIONALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY

Here are some quick facts about the affects of global warming:

- The number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes has almost doubled in the last 30 years.
- Malaria has spread to higher altitudes in places like the Colombian Andes, 7,000 feet above sea level.
- At least 279 species of plants and animals are already responding to global warming, moving closer to the poles

For more info look here or here www.stopglobalwarming.org