Does any body think the CA firestorms have anything to do with global warming?

Answer 1

Yes. Definitely. It's part of a chain of symptoms. SUVs and overpopualtion cause more carbon to leech into the atmosphere. The polar regions warm up. Less moisture as a result of less warm / cold front activiy. Drought. And fires.

So yes.

Answer 2

Can't say that any one fire or event is indicative of global warming. You have to look at the trend.

Firefighters in the western US say that the trend over the last 20 years has been larger and more frequent fires.

Open question as to whether it's global warming or whether it's hyper-active management of brush fires over the last hundred years. The latter would lead to overgrowth of undergrowth (pardon the wordplay) that is fueling the ferocity of many fires we are now seeing.

A note: Regardless of what is actually involved with these fires, global warming is most certainly occurring, even if not connected with these fires.

Answer 3

Lady L:

Climate is what happens over a large area over a long time.

Weather is what happens in a local area over a short time.

California is in fire season right now. It happens every year and has as far back as records go. We know more about it because the TV needs images to broadcast 24/7.

It is coming into winter in the Northern Hemisphere. It will be below freezing over whole continents for months at a time. Is this proof of global cooling?
No.

Neither is annual fire season in California proof of global warming.

Answer 4

I've heard that some people think it could be a reason for the fires. I personally believe that yes some man made pollution can add to it but no I don't belive that's what caused the fires. It's was arson that started it not fumes from a car. We still could do things to help the earth though and make the price of gas go down.

Answer 5

I think the fires are a product of a couple factors. The change in climate being one of them.

But here in San Diego County the infrastructure is falling apart, and two of the recent fires were started by power lines falling in the Santa Ana.

Remeber Lady, SD is a desert and we go through these "dry spells" every so many years. I predict we will have one more extremely dry year and then so much rain for a year or two that we will be having flash flood warnings. But I am no meteorologist...er...weather woman.

Answer 6

Some kids started it, they say. Besides, it is that time of year when fires happen. I don't think global warming had anything to do with it. Good thought, though. I'm so happy that your house and neighbor were spared.

Answer 7

100 years of "total fire suppression," combined with 100 years of "save the Kangaroo Rat (or other 'endangered' species)" preventing the clearance of brush and other fuel sources from around houses, led to the recent firestorms.

The buildup of fuel, the lack of controlled burns, the insistence of environmental groups that "habitats remain undisturbed," and the annual Santa Anna winds all combined to make this year's fire season one of the most expensive in recent memory.

Throw in the continued insistence of people to live in these remote, hillside communities without regard to the history of the region (historically, these hillsides burn in droughts), and you have the sort of disaster waiting to happen that occurred here.

Global Warming, however, cannot have been said to have caused any of it. The winds were not statistically stronger than they usually are. The drought was not statistically deeper than historical droughts. The summertime high temperatures were not statistically higher then they normally are for drought years in the region.

Answer 8

I believe a better overriding "macro" reason would be regressive environmental groups filing incessant lawsuits against any brush or timber harvests.

It's a tinderbox out there!

Addendum to Bob -

I can quote an Op-Ed supporting my side of this argument as well. Here's an excerpt, from the SF Chronicle:

"Why do (these fires) keep happening at such intensity? One reason is that for years, groups that literally make a living by obstructing government efforts to manage forests have filed myriad lawsuits intended to delay, stall or stop anything resembling science. They seek to prevent the federal government from implementing balanced efforts to manage the land, including efforts to thin forests and brushland to help prevent catastrophic wildfire.

Just last year in Southern California, an environmental advocacy organization filed a lawsuit against reasonable forest management impacting more than 3.5 million acres in four National Forests. Interestingly, more than 100,000 of these same acres have now burned in the past few days in three of these forests - Angeles, San Bernardino and Cleveland. But the lawsuit proceeds..."

Answer 9

It's a mistake to blame any single event in a single place on global warming.

But it is true that global warming is making droughts in California worse, and so making the fire problem there worse, long term.

Experienced fire fighters there have said it's constantly becoming more of a problem, even allowing for increased development.

wiserbud - The Sierra Club sponsored the CA law requiring brush clearing within 100 feet of houses. Uncaring homeowners flouted the law. Proof:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/5247099.html

"he (a fire fighter) found himself desperately hacking brush away from the sides of multimillion-dollar houses whose owners had failed to take even rudimentary steps toward fireproofing their homes. "Why can't these people just use some common sense?" he lamented."

Answer 10

No, they have to do with a little kid starting a couple of them and dry conditions and the Santa Ana winds fanning the flames

Answer 11

Sure. The person who set the fires burned down the forest because he wanted to make people more aware of "global warming".

Many times you will find eco-terrorist causing massive problems like the California wildfires just to focus more attention on issues they believe are important.