Is Global Warming Fueling Western Wildfires?
From KLTV, via the US’s ABC News, Is Global Warming Fueling Western Wildfires?
This year, [in the USA] wildfires have already burned more than 3 million acres - more than three times the average at this time of year.
Many scientists say that these fires fit exactly into the pattern predicted for global warming and that it’s likely to get, on average, even drier and hotter.
The article discusses the current wildfires that are blazing in the western USA and makes the point that,
Today’s wildfires are part of a worsening pattern most everywhere.
Since 1970, the number of major wildfires has soared not only in North America but around the world.
Scientists report that global warming means mountains lose winter snowpack weeks ahead of time, from the Himalayas to California Sierras.
“The snow is melting earlier in the year at very regular intervals now, and we’re getting much longer fire seasons. It dries out much more than before,” said Anthony Westerling, a researcher at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Fratus says he believes that climate change is here to stay. He says he also worries about how all the carbon from the fires will contribute to global warming.
“It appears that global warming is an issue that is not going to subside or go away anytime soon,” he said. “What we thought was the anomaly will soon become the rule.”
And that’s the key fact we’ll have to deal with, “What we thought was the anomaly will soon become the rule.” — DS
Technorati Tags: climate change, CO2, environment, fire, USA, weather, wildfires
