The hills around Bellingen could burn for a year...

NSW Forestry Corporation will log, bulldoze and burn Tarkeeth State Forest. “Residents have been told by Forestry Corporation that waste vegetation would be bulldozed into windrows and burnt over a period of a year or more...Imagine the smoke pollution right across the Valley." (source)

Study indicates 'biomass burning' may play larger role in climate change than previously realized. "Based on aircraft observations, satellite data and models, the findings indicate 'biomass burning' may need to be addressed with future regulations. Following closely after COP21, the results could suggest a need to look at other sources of greenhouse gas emissions, in addition to industrial activities and fossil fuel combustion in industrialized nations." (source)

Smoke - "Globally around 340,000 deaths per year are thought to be attributable to the additional pollution from landscape fires. Ending deforestation by burning would have many benefits, not only for global climate and biodiversity but for human health too." (source)

Measuring air quality/ NSW clean air legislation EPA NSW

Smoke and dust sensors. Open source technology for citizens:
Low-cost sensors to measure air quality. Monitor the air you breathe. Nature 09.01.2015


Links:
The hills around Bellingen could 'burn for a year', Bellingen Courier, 22.02.2016

University of Maryland. "Fires burning in Africa, Asia cause high ozone in tropical Pacific: Study indicates 'biomass burning' may play larger role in climate change than previously realized." ScienceDaily, 13.01.2016. 

World Pollutionwatch: Wildfires can kill – far from the flames, Guardian, 31.08.2015

 Hazard reduction burning kills 

Updates:
Tracking forest degradation regarding carbon emissions. Amazon Satellite alerts track deforestation in real time, nature 23.02.2016 

How Forest Loss Is Leading To a Rise in Human Disease, Yale Environment 360, 23.02.2016

Land-clearing surge in Queensland set to wipe out Direct Action gains – report Guardian 29.02.2016

'Like a scene from a doomsday sci-fi movie': Flames burn through Tarkeeth Forest, Bellingen Courier, 24.04.2017

Image:
Eugene von Guérard, Bush fire between Mount Elephant and Timboon, 1857

Aboriginal Consumption of Estuarine Food Resources and Potential Implications for Health through Trace Metal Exposure; A Study in Gumbaynggirr Country

Many of the Gumbaynggirr community rely on the Nambucca River estuary and coastal marine environment for fish and seafood. A legacy of the 'extract and dump' culture has polluted the environment with "metal-based sprays of arsenic and lead, organochlorine pesticides including DDT, dieldrin, aldrin and organophosphate pesticides...Derelict mines, agriculture, cattle dips, horticulture and banana growing left behind early generation chemical sprays and fertilizers."

Trace metals concentrations have implications for the health of the people engaging in fishing and seafood consumption. Read the details in the original study:

Shaina Russell, Caroline A. Sullivan, Amanda J. Reichelt-Brushett. Aboriginal Consumption of Estuarine Food Resources and Potential Implications for Health through Trace Metal Exposure; A Study in Gumbaynggirr Country, Australia, PLOS ONE, 2015, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0130689 

Fishing and resource use continues to be an essential aspect of life for many Aboriginal communities throughout Australia. It is important for dietary sustenance, and also retains deep social, cultural and economic significance, playing a fundamental role in maintaining group cohesion, transferring cultural knowledge and affirming Indigenous identities. We surveyed approximately 20% of the Gumbaynggirr Aboriginal community of Nambucca Heads, New South Wales, Australia. This paper explores Gumbaynggirr Connection to Country and engagement in cultural practice. It quantifies fishing efforts and consumption of seafood within the community. We found 95% of the sample group fish, with the highest rate of fishing being 2-3 times a week (27%). Furthermore, 98% of participants eat seafood weekly or more frequently, up to more than once a day (24%). Survey results revealed that Myxus elongatus (Sand mullet) and naturally recruited Saccostrea glomerata (Sydney rock oysters) continue to be important wild resources to the Gumbaynggirr community. Trace metals were measured in M. elongatus and S. glomerata samples collected by community participants in this study. Maximum levels prescribed in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code were not exceeded in the edible tissue for either species, however both species exceeded the generally expected levels for zinc and copper and S. glomerata samples exceeded the generally expected level for selenium. Furthermore the average dietary exposure to trace metals from consuming seafood was calculated for the surveyed population. Trace metal intake was then compared to the provisional tolerable weekly intake prescribed by the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives. This process revealed that copper and selenium intake were both within the provisional tolerable weekly intake, while there is no guideline for zinc. Furthermore, participants relying heavily on wild resources from the Nambucca River estuary may exceed the provisional tolerable weekly intake for cadmium. This suggests the need for further investigation of this issue to minimize any possible health risk.

Images:
From the outside walls of the Yarrawarra Aboriginal Cultural Centre, Corindi Beach

Noise Pollution and Vibration in the Bellingen Shire

On the 15th May the Royal Australian Air Force will fly jets day and night until 10.30 pm over the Bellingen Shire. (source)

The morning chorus of rural Bellingen usually consists of chainsaws. During the day the cacophony is enriched by mowers, slashers, lawn trimmers, sweepers, mulchers, chippers, shredders, bulldozers and other fossil fuel powered equipment. Cars speed on unpaved roads, cavalcades of mining and logging trucks thunder through the shire and the scenic little village. Hovering (pesticide spray) helicopters and sightseeing planes ensure that the sky is also abuzz with noise pollution. On weekends gangs of trail bikes rev up. At night the odd out of control ad hoc party distributes its industrial sound waves over the valley. The barking and yapping packs of dogs will be ignored here, as the focus is on machines powered with fossil fuel.

As a special annual event, the Bellingen shire (and Nambucca, Bellingen, Coffs Harbour and Clarence Valley council areas) puts itself on the map by hosting car races. " 200 kilometres of NSW forest roads will be used for a three-day car race." (source)  The fossil fuel burning spectacle is generating a lot of noise and dust. During that time, "the public is being denied access to various state owned forests." (source) Local endemic wildlife better not be near the many roads fragmenting their habitat.

Back to the aerial machines: “Up to 18 aircraft may be involved in these exercises, of which the major part will be conducted further off the coast, however northern NSW residents may notice aircraft activity this week." The aircraft will be the "F/A-18F Super Hornets from RAAF Base Amberley, near Brisbane and F/A-18 Hornet aircraft from RAAF Base Williamtown, near Newcastle." (source)

Ron Brent, Australia's Aircraft Noise Ombudsman, mentioned that the F/A-18s  "when used at full power... are among the noisiest planes we've seen here in Australia". (source)

In other places, aircraft noise has caused 'friction with surrounding residents'. One resident 'recorded jet noises as loud as 100 decibels at home.' "According to the RAAF, at Ludmilla Primary School the average maximum noise of an F/A-18 Hornet taking off from the RAAF Base Darwin is 92.6dB." (source)

A resident reported her experiences: "The whole house literally shakes...It's impossible to conduct conversations. You can't hear the radio...You feel the sound waves hitting your body...The worst part is not being able to predict when the noise will come...You don't know when it's coming. It's Chinese water torture...Then you start to hear it coming and your whole body tenses.." (source)

Celebrating Fossil Fuel Culture on Forest Roads
Staging Car Races in Nine State Forests of NSW

Images
Graffiti in the public sphere

Celebrating Fossil Fuel Culture on Forest Roads

The International Automobile Federation is showcasing car culture on forest roads in the Coffs Coast region. The spectacle of conspicuous consumption of fossil fuel will attract 10,000 motor enthusiasts arriving with their vehicles to enjoy the "quiet country roads and an endless network of forest trails, lush green hinterland roads, creeks and rainforest drives." They will encounter "a variety of beautiful bush settings and will find tranquil spots in the towns of Nana Glen, Glenreagh, Lowanna, Bellingen, Valla, Raleigh and Bowraville and Argents Hill." There will be the breath-taking landscapes of the Newry State Forest, Tuckers Nob State Forest and the Wedding Bells State Forest


The Mid North Coast of NSW, still has various protected refuges for Australian fauna and flora. The rich biodiversity of life is able to coexist in more or less fragmented habitats. Sprawl and the arteries of automobile dependency etch their way through 'the bush'". Logging, mining and speeding cars already encroach on the environment.

Residents living in little towns, rural dwellings or bush blocks seem to be used to the roar and dust of speeding vehicles and the local wildlife smeared across the roads. The noise pollution generated by racing cars might hardly outdo the daily chainsaws/slashers/mowers/whippersnippers/trail bikes etc.

One just tolerates things in the country...

Once the bushfire smoke from three hundred and fifty escaped hazard reductions has dissipated motorised business as usual can continue.

Traffic-Related Air Pollution, Particulate Matter, and Autism
Exposure to traffic-related air pollution, nitrogen dioxide, PM2.5, and PM10 during pregnancy and during the first year of life was associated with autism. Further epidemiological and toxicological examinations of likely biological pathways will help determine whether these associations are causal.

See also
Staging Car Races in Nine State Forests of NSW, 2014 

Noise Pollution and Vibration in the Bellingen Shire, 2015 

Update
One child dies and two other children injured in Rally Championship spectacle, the guardian 10.05.2015