Hard working researcher Lance Pidgeon has found numerous old newspaper reports of a heat wave in Central Australia in January 1932 which resulted in large numbers of bird deaths being reported from many sources.
Download the 5 page pdf report by Lance – there are many links to sources and it is only 116Kb.
This is sure well worth a read, I had never heard of such an event, sort of Biblical.
There has been much media publicity re bird deaths (est 4000) at Esperance (south coast WA) in early 2007 possibly due to trace metals in dust from loading ores onto ships. I am not sure if the reason was ever pinned down.
Yet the enviros are always blaming any decrease in animal populations on humans either directly or through Climate Change!!! Reinforces my wondering how much of fish and other population cycles aren’t due to humans as much as natural cycles.
Welcome to the Bureau of Meteorology “Memory Hole” Department.
We don’t get the old news just the new news.
So many references in Lance’s article of discrepancies between newspaper reporting of actual readings verses BOM records.
There is little wonder that we are having recent record heatwaves when real historical heatwaves are so conveniently memory holed.
Nice “old School” researching Lance.
Interesting to go to the BOM pages and try to check those old records.
They only go back to 1957, even in cases where (on the same page) you are informed records go back much further.
eg Ouyen Post office records (station number 076047) go continuously back to 1911.
The 27th of January 1932 at 124 Degrees F (51.1 Degrees C) does not get a mention.
Thankyou for putting this up Warwick.
Beachgirl “sort of Biblical.” It is hard to imagine just the area of ground taken up by “Billions” of dead birds.
Pindanpost. Thanks for linking.
kuhnkat “cycles aren’t due to humans” Ever wonder what may happen if there were to be a natural and large reduction in the atmospheric CO2 levels? EG a random iron bearing cosmic dust cloud sweeps into our atmosphere and causes ocean fertilisation of planckton.
Phil “Memory Hole” A whole lot more for you to ponder. Click here.
markx Thanks for that about Ouyen. have not had time to check every detail.”(on the same page) you are informed records go back much further.” Yes and there seems to be some whole long records missing too!