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| Wildfires May Be Linked to Global Warming |
| 2006-07-06 |
| The increase in the number of large western wildfires in recent years may be a result of global warming, researchers say. An analysis of data going back to 1970 indicates the fires increased "suddenly and dramatically" in the 1980s and the wildfire season grew longer, according to scientists in Arizona and California. It's all Reagan's fault. "The increase in large wildfires appears to be another part of a chain of reactions to climate warming," said Dan Cayan, a co-author of the paper and director of the climate research division at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Chain reactions. You know. Like the BOMB. He said that while part of the increase may be attributed to natural fluctuations, evidence also links it to the effects of human-induced climate warming. And you're all going to die. Scientists have become increasingly concerned in recent years about the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by the burning of fossil fuels. Average worldwide temperatures have risen this century as a result of what many believe is a greenhouse effect from that pollution. Don't forget the exhalations of evil excess people like Republicans The researchers used the files of the U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service to analyze 1,166 fires of more than about 1,000 acres. Their findings are published Thursday in the online edition of the journal Science. About 1,000 acres. Sounds like precision to the fourth digit. Beginning about 1987, there was a change from infrequent fires averaging about one week in duration to more frequent ones that often burned five weeks or more, they reported. The length of the wildfire season was extended by 78 days. Couldn't have anything to do with staffing, policy changes in when to intervene in natural fires, or arson levels. The researchers said the changes appear to be linked to annual spring and summer temperatures, with many more wildfires burning in hotter years than in cooler years. They also found a connection between early arrivals of the spring snowmelt in the mountainous regions and the incidence of large forest fires. An earlier snowmelt, they said, can lead to an earlier and longer dry season, which provides greater opportunities for large fires. "I see this as one of the first big indicators of climate change impacts in the continental United States," said research team member Thomas Swetnam, director of the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of Arizona in Tucson. One of the first? He doesn't know how lost this will be on the webisite for Global Warming evidence. "We're showing warming and earlier springs tying in with large forest fire frequencies. Lots of people think climate change and the ecological responses are 50 to 100 years away. But it's not 50 to 100 years away _ it's happening now in forest ecosystems through fire." And you're all going to die soon. The research was supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Forest Service and the California Energy Commission. Your Tax Dollars At Work |
| Posted by:Nimble Spemble |
| #12 Very true old patriot. The enviromentalists and the far too successful fire suppression of the 60s-80s lead to this. Too much fuel on the ground and no way to get rid of it. Global warming my ass. More like Global stupidity and mucking with the natural processes that nature has to deal with this kind of shit. Save the planet! Kill an Enviromentalist! |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2006-07-06 23:01 |
| #11 Someone else may have made this comment, but I don't care. The reason there are more forest fires, that burn hotter and last longer, is that the forests of today are vastly overcrowded with fuel that cannot be removed because "environmentalists" have virtually shut down thinning, general harvest, or other fuel-removing techniques. I've seen it in Colorado. Even after the Hayman fire that damaged or destroyed 115,000 acres of national and private forests, the enviroweenies wouldn't permit the Forest Service to authorize scavaging that would have removed about half of the useful, partly-burned wood. There are dozens of lawsuits pending that will take until far after the timber is reclaimable to be solved. THIS is what is destroying our forests. We need to shoot some of the people that insist that only THEIR vision of America be allowed. They are far more responsible for an uptick in forest fires than "global warming". |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2006-07-06 22:26 |
| #10 An analysis of data going back to 1970... Nice data set for studying trends that cover many centuries (hockey stick or not). That's like doing a national opinion poll with a few dozen respondants. |
| Posted by: Xbalanke 2006-07-06 17:25 |
| #9 I do hope the baby ducks and bunnies are safe. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2006-07-06 17:14 |
| #8 What Rex Mundi said. Or, more briefly, blame it on Smokey the Bear. Lots of little wildfires results in fewer big fires because the fuel is gone. Even a little Midwestern housewife knows that much! Idiots. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-07-06 15:08 |
| #7 Nothing to do with global warming and everything to do with overburdensome environtmental regulations preventing proper land mananagement that would normally prevent fires becoming large wild fires. Analsysts? pfeh...more like analists if you ask me. |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2006-07-06 14:56 |
| #6 The increase in the number of global warming articles in recent years may be the result of Al Gore, researchers say. An analysis of data going back to 1992 indicates that he wrote "Earth in the Balance: Healing the Global Environment". "The increase in stupid articles appears to be another part of a chain of reactions to Al Gore unemployment," said Darrell, who says he's had quite enough of these idiot writings. "It is clear to me that if Al Gore and every journalist who has ever pedaled this trash were to move to Venus, there would be considerably less hot air and brain farting here on planet Earth," he added. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2006-07-06 14:50 |
| #5 I blame Bush. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2006-07-06 14:49 |
| #4 I hear impotence and small breasts are linked to global warming too. |
| Posted by: 2b 2006-07-06 14:40 |
| #3 "global warming" doesn't cause fires. Unless you think it was spontaneous combustion (in which case, you're a idiot). There has to be an ignition source - natural (lightning) or man-made (carelessness, arson, etc.). Why don't they |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2006-07-06 14:36 |
| #2 Summer Jobs(arson)Program. |
| Posted by: Sid 6.7 2006-07-06 14:34 |
| #1 Everything else is, why not this, too? If it is a little warmer than the "average" temperature... well there ya go. If it is cooler, well that is linked, too. If you get too much rain that is a clear sign. If you have a drought that is a clear sign. |
| Posted by: eLarson 2006-07-06 14:27 |