What is Digg?164 Comments
- askorkin, on 08/27/2008, -1/+76yes but most of Australia is also desert and not very hospitable, so it is really no wonder is it :)
- SteelChicken, on 08/27/2008, -7/+67"making the country as critical to the world's environment as the Amazon rainforests"
ORLY? The Australian desert makes most of the worlds oxygen and has most of the worlds species in it?
I thought so.
Rubbish. - phreak79, on 08/27/2008, -0/+31Its also a bloody big place. Population density in the country is pretty low compared to many other western nations.
- flyzipper, on 08/27/2008, -2/+27They also mention Canada's Boreal forest, so that made me curious ...
* Covers nearly 6 million km2, or 58% of Canada, stretching from Yukon to Newfoundland
* Represents 25% of the world's remaining frontier forests
* Stores 67 billion tonnes of carbon -- 300 times Canada's yearly carbon emissions!
* Contains an estimated 1.5 million lakes
* Is home to more than 600 Aboriginal communities and 3.5 million people Is home to nearly 5 billion migratory birds
* Contains an estimated 140,000 kinds of living organisms, half of which are not yet classified
* Contains more than 500 types of fungi that live in soil and on tree roots, supporting a hidden diversity of life that thrives under the forest
Source ... http://cpaws.org/programs/boreal/about.php - septicmadman, on 08/27/2008, -2/+26Not that it matters, but phytoplankton produce the majority of the worlds oxygen.
- mofw, on 08/27/2008, -1/+23Are they implying that Aborigines are not humans?
- cnot3, on 08/27/2008, -5/+27IDK, I'm pretty sure Bear Grylls ran through that entire desert, surviving on nothing but scorpion flesh and his own urine.
- thegrantman, on 08/27/2008, -3/+22"We need to get people out there managing it." ......Right,the Outback needs people to help it because it could never exist on its own.
- freehunter, on 08/27/2008, -0/+17And if you think that's sad, wait until you hear that Steve Irwin died, too.
- MattB123, on 08/27/2008, -0/+16I see their point, but I bet the Aboriginal people touched it. They just touched it in the literal sense rather than "touching" with bulldozers like the more modernized people would.
- asnider, on 08/27/2008, -0/+14Link for the whole thing on one page: http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idU ...
- rynTAU, on 08/27/2008, -1/+14It does have the most unique species.. so it's got that going for it.
- Dundasbro, on 08/27/2008, -1/+12What the ***** is a Koala? We have Drop Bears over here.
- daRoach, on 08/27/2008, -6/+15Humans are part of nature, if we destroy these areas as well, nature intended it to be so.
- inactive, on 08/27/2008, -0/+8Because beavers can't and don't build dams the size of the Hoover Dam. They're only capable of making small dams (in relative terms) which continue to have water flowing through them.
- inactive, on 08/27/2008, -1/+9Vegas? Tell that to the Middle East!
- nunofgs, on 08/27/2008, -0/+7... "a study said on Wednesday."
Buried. Studies can't talk. - jasmus, on 08/27/2008, -0/+7There's a lot of introduced species doing a lot of damage in many rural areas. Pigs, foxes, rabbits, cattle, camels, horses, cane toads etc. That's not even mentioning the plants.
- Jonmad17, on 08/27/2008, -1/+8Dude, it's called sarcasm.
- mediaspree, on 08/27/2008, -3/+10Thats where the bigfoot is hiding!
- BiggestAl, on 08/27/2008, -0/+7If you really want to build a hut out there, go for it. But the hoop snakes and drop bears'll get you first.
- inactive, on 08/27/2008, -1/+8Who would want to? People used to get sent to Australia for being bad. Its like Escape From New York in a desert with ***** internet
- biogears, on 08/27/2008, -4/+11How come when humans build a dam it's horrible, but when beavers build one it's nature?
- Dundasbro, on 08/27/2008, -0/+7Genitals? You mean Tasmania?
- wm2010russ, on 08/27/2008, -1/+8yeah but bear drank... his own... URINE. and drank turtle blood. and served in the british sas. has stroud done that?
- element21, on 08/28/2008, -0/+7Sydney has a population density of 2,100pp/km2.
That's statistically higher than New York City
http://www.citymayors.com/statistics/largest-citie ... - pingudownunder, on 08/28/2008, -0/+7Yes, Australia is a bloody big place. Its about the same physical size as the United States - and most of us live in one of 7 or 8 large towns or cities.
- ashwinmudigonda, on 08/27/2008, -3/+9In other news, in India, an area the size of Australia remains entirely touched by humans.
- kevinwiz, on 08/27/2008, -0/+6Those facts just blew my mind. Thanks.
- thesparrowband, on 08/27/2008, -2/+8WWBGD?
(what would bear grylls do) - hiikeeba, on 08/27/2008, -1/+7Don't bog down the discussion with facts, man! Flame on!
- opiniastrous, on 08/27/2008, -0/+6Yes and No. Population density across the whole country is low because practically no-one lives in the centre of Australia, preferring the coastal cities. That said, Australia is also one of most urbanised countries in the world, due to the fact most people live along the coast.
- codechino, on 08/27/2008, -2/+7rainforests dont really produce much of the worlds oxygen, but they do provide a home for most of the world's biodiversity. as far as oxygen producing forests go, the northern hardwood forests near the arctic are much more important.
- Tanktunker, on 08/27/2008, -5/+10Time to drill for oil.
- slurba, on 08/28/2008, -0/+5Sort of like how Columbus "discovered" the America's.
- pingudownunder, on 08/28/2008, -0/+5its not a trick, its real. Drop Bears are bloody evil little gits. The best way to avoid them is to wear Vegemite on your nose, like zinc cream - the can't stand the stuff (this is why they don't attack Australians, because we eat it all the time).
- kevinwiz, on 08/27/2008, -1/+6Just a poorly executed mom joke. Try again.
- DarkPrincess74, on 08/27/2008, -1/+6"...and I'm a notary public so I've got that going for me too." -- obscure simpsons quote.
- jasmus, on 08/27/2008, -0/+4We also have the Principality of Hutt River. A nation within a nation. Worth reading about, very interesting story about a farmer that didn't want to do what the goverment told him, so he seceded.
http://www.principality-hutt-river.com/HRP_We_are_ ... - liamneville, on 08/27/2008, -0/+4"40% is untouched by humans...Most of the untouched areas were in the country's vast interior and northern savanna, including largely Aboriginal Arnhem Land."
last time i checked, aboriginals were regarded as human, (maybe it took us 150 years, but still) - Iztikeit, on 08/27/2008, -2/+6I think some of you are missing the point. The point is industrialization hasn't touched this area, and it's 12 times the size of Great Britain. I doubt many (any) of us could get out of our chairs and walk into an area basically untouched by humans.
- jasmus, on 08/27/2008, -0/+4Mining, introduced species of plants and animals. DROUGHT.
- DestroyFascism, on 08/28/2008, -0/+4IF you want to live in a desert fine....
No water for years I mean it can go 10 years without a single drop of rain. Teenage daughters of farmers have never seen it rain. Then when it does its meters deep. The soil is acidic and if wet, salty. The nighttime temp is around -2 degrees in places and daytime temps are around 48+ in most places.
If you want a garden, forget it.
If you think insects are a problem then I should tell you about our wonderful Bull ants a 1 1.4 inch long ant that flies during summer. It bits at the same time it stings you and they are really f'kn aggressive.
To go with the bull ant you have jumping jacks that are half as big, more aggressive and swarm if you go near their 20 foot wide ant farm. They seek you out and run up you biting and stinging as they go. Thousands will emerge if you stamp the ground with your foot. If you poke the nest exists with a stick the same will happen.
Scorpions - snakes (18 of 32 of the worlds most toxic) - spiders (5 of the worlds most toxic) that are often as big as your hand with 2 species as big as your head.
Build a house and watch termites eat it to the ground in months, not years.
Your car interior will turn to dust in 7 years.
Your clothes will be white again after 5 years.
Crocodiles own every piece of water from the tropic of Capricorn up.
Grass pollen will leave you feeling like your head wants to explode and if its really windy, you cant breathe through your nose for days on end. Blocked. dry, eyes dry. headache. f'n hot - then - f'kn cold.
Yeah living in remote Australia is charming... - jasmus, on 08/27/2008, -1/+5ACtually, there's plenty of plant life and animal life. A lot of it is introduced, so is killing off native species and affecting things like erosion and salinity.
- inactive, on 08/27/2008, -4/+8By the same argument, should we leave serial killers alone, since it's part of their nature to kill people?
- foldor, on 08/27/2008, -1/+5Tell that to Vegas...
- sidewinderaim9x, on 08/27/2008, -4/+8And his hotel room. If you want a man, look no further than Survivorman Les Stroud.
- inactive, on 08/27/2008, -0/+4wow, quite obscure, good job.
- pingudownunder, on 08/28/2008, -0/+3because our girls are hotter, our weather is much better, our wildlife and nature is far more diverse, and we totally whip you at cricket :)
-
Show 51 - 100 of 168 discussions
Browsing Digg on your phone just got easier with our enhancements to the 
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is