Spontaneous Hayshed Fires - Fire And Rain Among Effects of Global Warming?

Heard of spontaneously igniting hayshed fires?

Fire and rain

I've seen fire and I've seen rain.
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end...

Remember? James Taylor!

Well, right now, farmers from Northern New South Wales to South Australia, a huge land area Down Under, ain't singing.

07-08 has been the worst-ever season for spontaneous fires of this kind. Some 400 of them, compared to the usual dozen or so.

Why?

Changing weather patterns. First drought caused wheat and barley crops to fail. All farmers could do with them was to bale them for hay. Now unseasonal, heavy summer rains have soaked this hay, soaking right through the sheds' roofs. And this particular hay has a higher sugar content than its oaten cousin.

The resulting combination of warm weather, moisture and a rich, highly flammable food source for aerobic bacteria is a recipe for an instant flashpoint - spontaneous fires.

Ever felt the heat from a well-built compost heap? Well, this gets much hotter. Even individual hay bales have ignited.

Spontaneous hayshed fires

And, why not share your own observations of local effects of global warming? With image or video? Go here and build a grassroots database.

Source: The Australian, 21 January, 2008. Bizarre weather sends hay bales up in flames