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Studies: Wildfires Worse Due To Global Warming

An anonymous reader writes "According to scientists we can look forward to more devastating wildfires like the ones scorching Southern California because of global warming. "The fires in California and here in Arizona are a clear example of what happens as the Earth warms, particularly as the West warms, and the warming caused by humans is making fire season longer and longer with each decade," said University of Arizona geoscientist Jonathan Overpeck. "It's certainly an example of what we'll see more of in the future.""

379 comments

  1. Its Global Warming by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Global Warming is the nickname of the guy who started the fires.

    1. Re:Its Global Warming by ls671 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, and he could also be the guy responsible for sinkholes that show up an alarming rate lately because the wildfires he sets make Earth crust softer thus more likely to sink.

      http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new...

      http://www.viralnova.com/huge-...

      http://abcnews.go.com/Politics...

      --
      Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
    2. Re:Its Global Warming by RabidReindeer · · Score: 1

      Yeah, and he could also be the guy responsible for sinkholes that show up an alarming rate lately because the wildfires he sets make Earth crust softer thus more likely to sink.

      Actually, sinkholes commonly form when underground water levels drop, leaving unsupported empty spaces.

      Underground water levels are likely to drop when there's less rain to replenish the water which is pumped up for human use and/or which flows to other areas (like Miami).

      In the mean time, less rain also means more wildfires.

    3. Re: Its Global Warming by caveqat101 · · Score: 1

      Not because of water level drop, but because the minerals dissolve out of an area, because of ground water being there. It's a natural phenomenon.

    4. Re: Its Global Warming by RabidReindeer · · Score: 1

      Not because of water level drop, but because the minerals dissolve out of an area, because of ground water being there.
      It's a natural phenomenon.

      Well, actually, both. The water dissolves the minerals, but water is relatively incompressible. It isn't a perfect replacement for the missing minerals, but it serves, for the most part.

      Replace the water with air, however, and even that level of support is lost. Which is why the seeds of sinkholes are sown during wet times, but the actual number of collapse events goes up when things get dry.

    5. Re: Its Global Warming by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      Well, actually, both. The water dissolves the minerals, but water is relatively incompressible.

      Glad to see that you acknowledge that water is compressible. So many people on Slashdot get hysterical about water being incompressible, and even more hysterical when corrected. Meanwhile, we're rigging up to do a 15,000psi pressure test, where the compressibility will be around 20 (US) gallons.

      Karstification (the formation of landscape structures by the chemical dissolution of bedrock) is a natural process, but it's rate can be substantially altered by changes in land use, drainage patters and groundwater chemistry, all of which can be altered by humans on a human timescale. "Gripping" (a.k.a. using a "mole" to cut sub-surface unlined drainage channels in moorlands has hugely changed the rate at which water gets from rainfall into the caves of England, for one example, increasing erosion rates. But the destruction of the upland forests that were there before there were moors changed the carbon dioxide content of ground water and previously decreased corrosion rates.

      Some mining processes can produce increases in the acidity of ground water (e.g. mining coal can expose pyrite and marcasite (iron sulphide minerals) to oxygen in the air, when they'll form sulphuric acid, which is reasonably effective at dissolving limestone.

      And, of course, mines can act as conduits for water flow, as well as collapsing themselves.

      There are a number of processes which may be involved in any particular sink hole, and there is no one solution or target for pointing the finger of blame at. You have to examine each case individually.

      There is also sloppy reporting : I saw a case a week or two ago reported as a "sinkhole" when it was clearly the collapse of a railway cutting, possibly because of high rain fall and possibly because of failure of a retaining wall. I smelled a rat there, because the brickwork appeared quite old, but only one section had collapsed on a fairly uniform slope, suggesting inadequate or uneven maintenance.

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
  2. I thought weather was not climate... by SuperKendall · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Any time someone says "look how bad winter was" they are (rightfully) chided for treating a variation in weather as being "climate".

    Well who does not remember years and years of past California wildfires. Guess what, drought happens. You can't declare one "climate change" just because it's scary.

    And you can't even see that climate change makes drought more likely without way more data than we have. A warmer climate could mean some areas are dryer, others wetter. But actually overall it would mean more moisture in the system, not less...

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by bunratty · · Score: 4, Informative

      I can see that for years climatologists have been saying that drought-stricken areas will become even drier with more warming. And according to the article there has been a three-decade pattern of fires getting worse in the West: "Since 1984, the area burned by the West's largest wildfires — those of more than 1,000 acres — have increased by about 87,700 acres a year, according to an April study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters."

      One winter is not a long-term pattern. Something that gets worse over the course of decades, in contrast, is a long-term pattern.

      --
      What a fool believes, he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.
    2. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Kohath · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Did global warming also cause the fact that there weren't any wildfires last month?

    3. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      "Weather is not climate" when weather doesn't do what you want ... ie this exceedingly cold winter was weather, floods in the east... weather, moderate to absolutely beautiful temps across the plains...weather. But the minute it coincides with the crackpot climate theory of the day, then it's climate!

      I've heard some compare the current drought in the west by saying it's as bad as it was in 1980's ... just a year or so after the 'global cooling' panic from the bitterly cold winters of '78-'79. Not sure if the 80's was better or worse than the '50s or '30s. They didn't call it 'the dust bowl' for nothing.

      Point is, the west is basically a desert punctuated by brief wet spells. The most recent wet spell (wherein the population has doubled in some locations) has come to an end. Politicians rarely look beyond the next election, so now they are in a bit of a predicament from assuming 'wet is the way it will always be' just because there has been some moisture for the past decade or so.

    4. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by SuperKendall · · Score: 1, Interesting

      There can be many reasons why there are more fires - chief among them is simply there are lots more people, also more in the wilderness now than before and people start fires.

      Note they just said fires are getting worse, not that droughts are... and even the fire things is mostly true of California, not the west in general.

      But I see from my moderation that truth is unpopular today, so I will let you call continue to wail and gnash teeth while the sane among us roll our eyes...

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    5. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by bunratty · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Is a period of one month: a) short-term, or b) long-term?

      --
      What a fool believes, he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.
    6. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Kohath · · Score: 2, Insightful

      A month lasts longer than a fire. How about we just stop pretending singular events like fires are climate?

    7. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Hognoxious · · Score: 4, Insightful

      We don't, do we? We measure the number of them, and their severity, over a period of months.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    8. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by tmosley · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yeah, but California has ALWAYS been drier than it was for the last century. 500 year droughts were not uncommon. Using a drought in the fucking Sahara as evidence for your theory shows that your methodology is very, very flawed, and should bring closer scrutiny. But it doesn't, because the field is 100% politicized and no-one is REALLY interested in science.

    9. Re: I thought weather was not climate... by Namarrgon · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Love how your claims are "truth" by simple declaration, and others' are of course merely claims, even when they're agreeing with a peer-reviewed study.

      Why don't you try and rebut the actual study, if you're so sure it's wrong? Or at least attempt toprovide a modicum of evidence to make your own claims look a little less like yet another soapbox rant.

      --
      Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
    10. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Well, global warming probably contributed to these fires.

      After all, the globe usually warms once a year, usually in the spring season.

    11. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by bunratty · · Score: 1

      In terms of climate, anything shorter than a decade is short-term. And no one is calling a singular event climate. Climate is the average weather over a period of decades. The increasing wildfires over the past several decades in the Southwest are a result of increasing temperatures and drought conditions over decades. That's climate change.

      --
      What a fool believes, he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.
    12. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by satch89450 · · Score: 1

      And where do you get your information? A wildfire may not be burning above-ground, but the fire can continue underneath the topsoil. Forest fires are not considered "out" until they have been thoroughly soaked with water over a period of months. In the Sierras, that's after the first big snowstorm of the season. Snow captures the heat and melts, and the resulting water will go into the root tunnels and snuff what's left of the fire. And the loss of coverage *can* affect climate, but only in a local area and not on a continent, let alone the planet. But that doesn't affect your premis: a single fire does not "climate" cause.

    13. Re: I thought weather was not climate... by satch89450 · · Score: 1

      I suggest you increase your range of research. Specifically, find the study for the Tahoe Basin showing how the suppression of forest fires has increased the fuel load in the forests of the basin for the past 30 years. More fuel means hotter fires. Also, add "fire ecology" to your search parameters. In this one respect, man *has* affected the ecology, by suppressing limited fires that eat up the excess fuel that can lead to large crown fires and "firenados."

    14. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by gtall · · Score: 3, Informative

      Yes, well, when it comes to the Sahara, it's been marching south for awhile, and faster more recently.

    15. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by hey! · · Score: 2

      Any time someone says "look how bad winter was" they are (rightfully) chided for treating a variation in weather as being "climate".

      But that's not what he's saying. He's saying that the kind of weather S. California has had in the last few months will be more common in the future, which *is* a statement about climate. He's saying that the acreage burned by wildfire has increased steadily over the last thirty years, which is also a statement about climate (albeit indirect).

      He did not say "the fires this year prove that climate is warming", or any of discouragingly braindead kinds of things you hear coming out of the denialist echo chamber whenever there's a patch of cold weather.

      And you can't even see that climate change makes drought more likely without way more data than we have. A warmer climate could mean some areas are dryer, others wetter. But actually overall it would mean more moisture in the system, not less...

      Another dishonest piece of shifting ground/strawman denialist argument. Nobody is saying that there will be drought everywhere. The models predict more drought in the American west, Australia, South America, and most of Africa; they predict increased precipitation in Eastern Canada, Siberia, East and Southeast Asia and at very high and low latitudes.

      --
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    16. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What does one singular, random month have to do with anything? Even if there were wildfires 99% of the time, there would still eventually be an entire month without wildfires just due to pure chance. Picking a single month to support your argument while ignoring all the rest is the very definition of cherry-picking.

    17. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      "Global Warming" leads to greater extremes - hotter hots, colder colds, longer droughts, etc. So extremely cold winters are to be expected and do nothing to "disprove" global warming. Remember, "global" means its the average over the entire planet, not just a few isolated areas. Siberia and Antarctica can get colder while everywhere else gets hotter, and as long as the average is a net positive its still "global warming".

    18. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Kohath · · Score: 0

      If they can cherry-pick one week with fires to promote global warming alarmism, then it's equally valid to cherry-pick a month with no fires to refute the alarmism. The lack of fires is no more or less caused by global warming than the fires.

    19. Re: I thought weather was not climate... by CAIMLAS · · Score: 1

      So you don't think Forest Service land management (or the lack thereof) has anything to do with it? Because the timeframe for increasingly bad fires matches up really nicely with changes in approach to doing so...

      --
      ~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
    20. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by bunratty · · Score: 4, Informative

      There's no cherry picking of one particular week or month. From TFA: "Since 1984, the area burned by the West's largest wildfires — those of more than 1,000 acres — have increased by about 87,700 acres a year, according to an April study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters."

      --
      What a fool believes, he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.
    21. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by ravenshrike · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Out of curiosity did any of the idiots crying wolf over climate change on this rodeo first chart spread of human habitation and any changes in land management? No? Didn't think so. Claim is utterly invalid.

    22. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by drall.kj · · Score: 1

      Well in that case the Galciers have been marching North for about 10,000 years.

    23. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by phantomfive · · Score: 0

      Well said.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    24. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by riverat1 · · Score: 1

      So did global warming cause last month's lack of wildfires or not?

      What an inane question. All global warming does is on average cause hotter drier conditions in many areas like the American west and Siberia. Those conditions make it easier for a wildfire to get started and once it gets started make it more difficult to stop. Whether a fire actually gets started or not is still a matter of chance but with global warming potential fires that might have fizzled out in the past have a better chance of becoming a noticeable fire.

    25. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's "climate" when the warmers can use it to forward their agenda. It's "weather" when they can't.

    26. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by riverat1 · · Score: 1

      Note they just said fires are getting worse, not that droughts are... and even the fire things is mostly true of California, not the west in general.

      Tell that to Colorado which had the two worst fire seasons in its history in 2012 & 2013.

      According to CSU, wildfires in Colorado destroyed less than 100,000 acres per decade over the 1960s and the 1970s. For the 1980s and 1990s, the total was over 200,000 acres per decade. For the 2000s, the total was approximately 1,000,000 acres.

      Actually wildfires are endemic everywhere west of the Rockies and for a ways east as well. California has just been getting the publicity lately but we've already had a few small fires in Oregon this year.

    27. Re: I thought weather was not climate... by riverat1 · · Score: 1

      Yes, fuel load is a big issue for wildfires but global warming creates conditions that can exacerbate the problem. It's not simply one or the other.

    28. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by jackspenn · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Are you sure the more frequent larger fires aren't actually the result of past fire prevention? I know some fire fighters and park rangers who told me that policy changes in the 90s prevented them from letting small fires go naturally (these fires weren't even important enough to make the national news). Instead the policy was modified to "Put all observed fires out ASAP." In addition they were banned from removing brush that would normally have been consumed by these smaller fires. I remember them saying that if not changed the policies would lead to bigger fires in the future. A sorta pay for it later mess. So my question is, if it is fair to say many "Scientist" claim fire increases are because of "climate change", is it not fair to say there are "Philosophers" who reason fire increases are because of "bureaucratic BS"?

      --
      Respect the Constitution
    29. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by jackspenn · · Score: 5, Insightful

      area burned by the West's largest wildfires — those of more than 1,000 acres — have increased by about 87,700 acres a yea

      So here is the problem with libtards, they create a problem and then use selective results that are actually the result of their own BS as proof, more of what they want, needs to be done.

      This is true with the wild fires and the selection of data to help show how bad Global Warming is getting. The government back in the 90s decided their brilliant fire policies could be even more brilliant. Instead of letting small fires burn (some seeds and bugs only grow/hatch after a fire), but no no no, people in universities and in Washington, these intellectuals, were smarter than nature or those western ranching folks with no college degree. See these collectivists were so smart they said "New policy let's put every fire out ASAP". "Oh, and no you cannot remove brush and grass and 'fuel' that would normally have been periodically consumed and used up and removed". Instead the new "intellectuals" said "protect nature" ... by acting in an unnatural way. So all these little fires were put out and things looked so good ( ... in the short-term), that I am sure they patted themselves on the back and were like "Boy are we awesome, we are so much smarter than that farmer who said this was a dangerous idea".

      So the fuel just built up everywhere and then when something happens to ignite it, be it lightening or a cigarette, the little fires have a greater probability of becoming bigger fires. Time means more fuel, greater risk. Tick tick tick. So then after awhile we get these huge fires. What do those smart intellectuals do? Do they review their suggestions of the past? Take into account the bureaucratic BS that contributed to these fires? No! First, they smoke a bowl and later .... they say "Let's help that farmer who lost his ranch. Let's help those people who lost there homes. Let's explain to them that it is all mankind's fault." They then go on to explain BS like carbon foot prints and how that is why fires are worse. It is also why flooding is worse or droughts or pretty much anything, and the only way to fix it is to accept global collectivism. Yup, only with global collectivism can we prevent forest fires.

      --
      Respect the Constitution
    30. Re: I thought weather was not climate... by jackspenn · · Score: 1, Troll

      I do not think you understand this thing called "science". In it you only change one variable at a time. Your comment admitting fuel supply has increased and then also stating but GW is also making the fires worse. It makes everyone who reads this GW propaganda a little bit dumber. That is not science. Every GW computer model has been wrong when compared to real world observations, they aren't science. The only fact we can say about every GW programmatic model that can be absolutely proven is the fact that these models will never be able to take all of the variables into account and therefore aren't good examples of scientific methods"

      --
      Respect the Constitution
    31. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Kohath · · Score: 0

      Last week's fires are specifically mentioned. How is that not cherry-picking one week?

      Alarmists: Global warming makes wildfires happen, like the ones from last week.
      Non-alarmists: Last week's fires were caused by weather and (probably, in one case) arson, not climate.
      Alarmists: No one was talking about last week's fires specifically. We were talking about statistically averaged fires over time.

      If you're not talking about last week's fires, then please stop talking about last week's fires. If weather is not climate, a few weather-related fires are not climate-related fires.

    32. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Kohath · · Score: 0

      Understood. But relating it to last week's fires breaks the "weather is not climate" rule.

    33. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by dbIII · · Score: 0

      Oh, and no you cannot remove brush and grass and 'fuel'

      While California has acted as if it's government has been force fed LSD since 1960 it is a global trend that is being observed so your local retarded fire retardation measures are an isolated strawman not relevant to the discussion.

    34. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by dbIII · · Score: 1

      Last week's fires are specifically mentioned. How is that not cherry-picking one week?

      That's why it's in the news. Don't mistake a journalist grabbing something already available on a topic for something cooked up in a week.

    35. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Probably a trolling comment! What a surprise on /.

      And if you look at the population in those areas you'll see that too has increased over the same time. And you'll also see more people moving outwards to build homes, go camping or just spend time in the wooded areas, this all equals more people being reckless with camp fires, rubbish fires, cigarettes, ect, ect. And yes I read your comment, and the fact remains it is a desert or arid area, which equals little to no rain for periods of time, and when it does rain, you get sever lighting storms which of course that in itself drastically increases the chances of a flash fire, leading to massive forest fires.

      Over population, over guarded forests, leads to this problem. People want to live in and around forests and there not allowing natural brush fires to clear over growth, these minor brush fires also trim the larger trees lower branches and strengthens the trees trunks from future brush fires, actually ever brush fire will only further strengthen the trunks.

      I'm not understanding how you can only accept one side of the equation, without stepping back and looking at the whole picture. My comment and me reading about the research into global change, keeps this a debate. I see it as a combination of 'human progress' or as I call it, over population, and global changes.

    36. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by dbIII · · Score: 1

      Your problem should be with the journalist making the link instead of the people who wrote it without making the link. Or maybe it shouldn't - fires were in the news so the journalist brought in some material about fires.

    37. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The "wet spell" in the west came to an end years ago. That's why they've built huge aqueducts to bring in water from snow melts to the east. Those snow melts are slowly delivering less and less water each year, as climate change delivers less snow. Combined with the ongoing drought, this has led to prolonged dry periods that work in tandem with man's forest conservation efforts to create wildfires at a heretofore-unheard-of scale.

      Also: huge swaths of burning forest is not "weather," but keep fucking that chicken, denier.

    38. Re: I thought weather was not climate... by Namarrgon · · Score: 1

      Oh, I completely agree that human fire suppression policies have contributed by increasing fuel load (I live in Australia; the subject comes up frequently here). This is definitely a significant factor.

      That does not mean that climate is not also a factor, or even that climate is not the dominant factor. See my sibling post for links to relevant studies.

      --
      Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
    39. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by riverat1 · · Score: 1

      The quote in the posting from Jonathan Overpeck was:

      "The fires in California and here in Arizona are a clear example of what happens as the Earth warms, particularly as the West warms, and the warming caused by humans is making fire season longer and longer with each decade," said University of Arizona geoscientist Jonathan Overpeck. "It's certainly an example of what we'll see more of in the future."

      I don't see that he's conflating weather and climate, he's just saying more fires such as the ones in California are an expected effect of global warming. It's already well known that there has been a significant increase in fires and acreage burned since the 1960's for a number of reasons, including increased fuel load and humans encroaching further into the wild land. But global warming is also a factor both directly and indirectly.

    40. Re: I thought weather was not climate... by riverat1 · · Score: 1

      I don't think you understand science either. We do scientific research on all sorts of things where it's not possible to control only one variable at a time. It doesn't sound like you understand models very well either. For example observed temperatures are still within the uncertainty ranges provided with climate model projections so you really can't call them wrong, just imperfect. They're still better than anything else we have. As George Box famously said "All models are wrong but some are useful."

    41. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Barsteward · · Score: 1
      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    42. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Barsteward · · Score: 1

      that's your problem with comprehension as you can't seem to see "more than a week", if you tag this weeks fire to the pattern developing over the years, its not "just one week".

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    43. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Barsteward · · Score: 1

      and they are getting smaller due to melt

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    44. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Eunuchswear · · Score: 1

      After all, the globe usually warms once a year, usually in the spring season.

      No, because nothern hemisphere spring is not a global phenomenon.

      --
      Watch this Heartland Institute video
    45. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Eunuchswear · · Score: 1

      Out of curiosity did any of the idiots crying wolf over climate change on this rodeo first chart spread of human habitation and any changes in land management? No? Didn't think so. Claim is utterly invalid.

      So you read the paper.

      When and where are you publishing your research that refutes it?

      --
      Watch this Heartland Institute video
    46. Re: I thought weather was not climate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The models are way out of wack, >2sd (too hot, feed back's wrong way around etc)

      And you do not understand models at all.

      The models have too many variables that are fudge factors, not true variables, as there are too many to separate correctly.

      Fudges packed on top of fudges are just making them worse, NONE of them model the planet to any sort of accuracy.

      It's just the worse sort of non-science I have ever seen.

      I wouldn't trust most climate scientists(NOT that there are any) to add 2+2 as I am sure they would say the answer is 6 due to Co2 affecting the calculation

      The models can't even match there buggered up temperature records (nicely messed by adjusting historical data with a positive slope, then throw away the original data, just to make sure you can't check what they did was valid!!!! definitely not science, just fraud)

    47. Re: I thought weather was not climate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      and if you take the added positive slope the models look even worse!

    48. Re: I thought weather was not climate... by serviscope_minor · · Score: 0

      I do not think you understand this thing called "science". In it you only change one variable at a time.

      I am just savouring the juxtaposition of those two sentences. Just give me a moment... ...aaaaaah.

      Seriously if you think that then you have no more than a distorted school boy's idea of what science is. Try going and talking to some actual practicing scientists. You will find that the world and science is more complex that you believe it to be. Nonetheless, you are here in the internet talking about it which means basically it works.

      Every GW computer model has been wrong when compared to real world observations, they aren't science.

      Proven wrong what? You are probably not aware but there are degrees of wrongness. A model does not have to be globally correct to the 10th significant figure to be broadly correct. The old models seem to broadly agree with what is happening. That makes the more or less correct.

      The only fact we can say about every GW programmatic model that can be absolutely proven is the fact that these models will never be able to take all of the variables into account

      Yep

      and therefore aren't good examples of scientific methods"

      Nope. No simulation takes into account all variables. That doesn't mean that the 787s wings aren't a whole bunch better than previous designs however. Same for climate models.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    49. Re: I thought weather was not climate... by caveqat101 · · Score: 1

      Were there no wildfires prior to 84? I bet there were, attributed to global cooling, and Santn Anna's.

    50. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by ganjadude · · Score: 1

      in other words, it IS mans fault... just not in the alarmist way they want to portray it. This actually makes way more sense than anything else I have read about it so far.

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    51. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by sycodon · · Score: 1

      Global Warming causes arson.

      --
      When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    52. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Everything is an expected effect of global warming.

      The Alarmists can't lose!

    53. Re: I thought weather was not climate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When it comes to Climate "Science", Peer Review is having a bunch of your buddies look over your paper with a few pints of beer. It's a prime example of Self Reinforcement, echo chamber, Good O'l Boy science.

      When the leaders in the research seek to actively punish outlets that accept "denier" papers, then your peer review is a POS worthless process...or did you forget those emails?

    54. Re: I thought weather was not climate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Proven wrong what? You are probably not aware but there are degrees of wrongness.

      And here we have the essence of Climate "Science". Just a collection of results that aren't "completely wrong". By that measure, Cold Fusion should be a well accepted principal. After, all there was some heat generated.

      And the degree of rigor in simulating the 787's wings is multiple orders magnitudes more accurate than are these so-called models. I'm sure you wouldn't step foot on one if the models they used to design it were even 10 times more accurate than are the Climate models. You'd be a fool if you did.

    55. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by ganjadude · · Score: 1

      is it climate change that is the cause? or is it related to moving the water over a large area, taking water from where it belongs and moving it to place it does not.

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    56. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Global Warming" leads to greater extremes - hotter hots, colder colds

      Right- just like turning up the heat under a frying pan makes some spots of the frying pan have hotter hots, and some spots have colder colds.

      -oh, wait, it doesn't. Turning up the heat under a frying pan MAKES THE WHOLE FRYING PAN HOTTER.

    57. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by hoboroadie · · Score: 1

      Guess what...
      Do the Kochs really pay you that well?

      --
      They feared that it could be used to suppress protest or support unpopular rule.
    58. Re: I thought weather was not climate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I really hate "you people" who use "quotes" to dismiss the "claims" of people who studied long and hard to become experts in their fields of study. Would you call a "plumber" and then argue his claims of a "broken pipe" we just a conspiracy? I bet you would.....

    59. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by avandesande · · Score: 1

      If you look at Ansel Adams' photographs from the early part of the 20th century the areas he photographed were devoid of trees and brush- fire prevention has created a huge backlog of flammable materials in the forest. Many of the photos he made cannot be taken now because of so much overgrowth.

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
    60. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, the grown-ups were over that debate long ago. The scientific community isn't arguing that wildfires are evidence of human-induced climate change. They're merely observing that the existence such climate change, which is already generally accepted, is likely to be a significant factor in the extended drought that has made wildfires more common in California. This observation has been, and will likely continue to be, useful because of its demonstrated predictive value.

    61. Re: I thought weather was not climate... by geekoid · · Score: 1

      The GW model is a great model. It has made prediction what bore out, and has pointed us to some previously unknown climate events.

      If by wrong you mean, not exactly in the middle of error bars, then yes. But that's stupid and shows a complete ignorance of what a model is.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    62. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by geekoid · · Score: 1

      I don't think you understand what the word drought means.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    63. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or it could be the Interior's theory that we shouldn't clear brush and make firebreaks.

      Nah, that couldn't have anything to do with it. It must be CO2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_wildfire_suppression_in_the_United_States

    64. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow, rant much?

      And wtf is "global collectivism" anyway? Sounds disturbingly Communist...

    65. Re: I thought weather was not climate... by geekoid · · Score: 1

      You are just one of many people who can't conceive that it might be some of both, aren't you? That special kind of idiot who thinks everything is on or the other and never a mix.
      A product of for profit news.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    66. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by geekoid · · Score: 1

      Yes, actually. But hey, your a fuck twad so I shouldn't expect basic level thinking.

      It's my fault for having hopes that people will actually think.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    67. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Over a 4.5 billion year planetary life, and a half billion year existence of organic life, is 1961-1990: A) short term, or B) long term, for purposes of calculating an average?

    68. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by grantspassalan · · Score: 1

      Warmer air can hold more moisture than colder air. Therefore if the overall temperature of the earth rises, there will be more average moisture in the atmosphere which will also result in more moisture precipitating out of the atmosphere. That increased moisture will still not be distributed more evenly than now.

      Where do people think all that carbon was, before it was sequestered underground a long time ago? We call this stuff we burn “fossil fuel” because it was once part of living organisms, mostly plants. Where do plants get their carbon? Climate like most things in nature comes in cycles. It is natural and people have absolutely nothing to do with it. They never did in the past and they don’t now. AGW is a modern myth, a fairytale designed to control people and make someone lots of money.

      --
      A sufficiently advanced simulation is indistinguishable from reality.
    69. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      can see that for years climatologists have been saying that drought-stricken areas will become even drier with more warming. And according to the article there has been a three-decade pattern of fires getting worse in the West

      The funny thing is that you don't see the contradiction in your own statement. Wildfires need fuel to exist. They need abundant, annual plant life. They don't need a lack of plant life or burned-out plant life (standing dead). There's not a lot of wildfires in the Mojave. There are a lot on/near the coast where the state gets the MOST moisture. You see, several native plants in the SoCal region turn themselves into kindling upon maturation because it's the best way for them to propagate. They "attract" fires because it fertilizes the soil for their young and burns away competing plant life. There were yearly wildfires every year in SoCal long before humans ever showed up. Governor Jerry Brown doesn't know his own state when he blames climate change for his SoCal wildfires. Unless you remove all the native plants, you will ALWAYS have yearly wildfires in California.

    70. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lets jsut ignore that simnple facts that for YEARS the land management agencies put out ALL naturally occurring fires that kept the fuel loads down. Now couple that fact that we are planting people and structures on those over grown high fuel load areas, and you ARE going to have more devastating fires. Especially with the media to play it up.

    71. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Since CO2 is used in fire extinguishers, an increase in CO2 would reduce wildfires. Duh. We obviously need to reduce oxygen in the atmosphere.

    72. Re: I thought weather was not climate... by riverat1 · · Score: 1

      What a load of unsupported crap.

    73. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Reziac · · Score: 1

      I've seen some photos of that era (not sure who took them) but having only seen today's overgrown forests, I was astonished at how yesteryear's forests (then entirely natural) consist of widely-scattered trees, mostly of middle maturity, with thick grass between and little or no brush in sight. Today's forest trees are crammed cheek-by-jowl, up to their armpits in brush, with little or no grass in sight. As I say above, if it weren't pine beetles, it would be some other opportunistic pest, regardless of the climate. (And as only relatively small parts of the forested U.S. has *ever* had extended -30 temps since the glaciers departed, that claim is just a red herring.)

      Healthy forests need either regular fires or judicious logging. *Choose*.

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    74. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Reziac · · Score: 1

      Heh, yep, that's one way to look at it... tho the truly blameworthy are well-tefloned by their status as environmentalists and defenders of nature, all with the best of motives and intent.

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    75. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Reziac · · Score: 1

      It takes 20 to 30 years for overcrowding and brush growth to achieve the kind of understory fuel load that makes for a megafire (where intense heat creates the chimneys that send the fire into the crown, where otherwise it's unlikely to reach). So, yeah, depending on when the last megafire went through that area, a lot of forests are about due, and will experience such a fire at the next incendiary opportunity, be that a dry year, a lightning strike, or a careless match.

      The other day I got to thinking about the big Santa Clarita/Acton (SoCal) fire of a couple years ago, and realised that where the fire halted as it moved northward wasn't due to firefighters' efforts. It halted when the fire reached the area regularly grazed by sheep, where there's grass but no undergrowth, and all the junipers are browsed up 3 or 4 feet above the ground.

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    76. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by myth24601 · · Score: 1

      A month lasts longer than a fire. How about we just stop pretending singular events like fires are climate?

      When there is no hope of getting new funding to study what is caused by global warming.

      --
      No matter where you go, there you are.
    77. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      MINCE WORDS MUCH?...

      Cant say I ever looked up climate in a dictionary and environmental science was just getting started when I was in college BUT climate is your overall environment the sum total of its interactions more than just the weather itself BUT its timings too-did the rains come when the crops needed them? fyi your seasons like winter make up major part of your climate-besides the temps and rainfall go low enough long enough for bad insects to get killed off or will you be over run with mosquitos bearing West Nile virus?

      ok you can nay say climate change by invoking the time scale of the Earth or what ever sys of time keeping way beyond human perception.
        BUT humans have been mucking with the Earth on a global scale for 300 or so years now with it progression by a geometric growth rate. Yes we are on a high end of a hot cycle and thus would experience some boost to temps/weather naturally.

      I grew up raising crops which kept cattle feed and provided grazing for cattle. I am now 45 yo and possess a chemistry minor. The weather in my locale has CHANGED. It never rained in july or aug of my youth if it had churches would have filled expecting JUDGEMENT DAY was happening. Now it happens most years yet even in our worse droughts our fungus count is 4-7X higher than my youth (notice this as Im allefgic to certain molds). I wouldnt advise anyone to go into cattle ranching right now given my locale relys on surface water and is predicted to go drier.

      fyi when you get drier your fires will get worse-why?

      1. heat makes the brush grow faster and heavier to outgrow the competing p[lants for sun
      2. when it finally gets too hot and dry the greater mass of plant matter makes more flammable material
      3 more heat means give that areas terrian more wind
      4 more wind more fuel more heat in air means bigger badder fires

      and its funny how you imply the rest of us dont understand the complexity of the Earth yet you imply in the close that the extra moisture in the system will fix it-it just means more energy in the oceans since world is mostly ocean thus bigger badder hurricanes

    78. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      depends are you an insect with a 3 day life span or the Earth with a few billions years under your belt

    79. Re: I thought weather was not climate... by Namarrgon · · Score: 1

      [Citation needed]

      --
      Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
    80. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by toddestan · · Score: 1

      Putting out fires ASAP makes the most sense. If you don't put it out when you can and the fire gets out of control - which can easily happen given the dry conditions, property is going to get destroyed and people potentially killed. And when that happens, you're going to end up with morons like yourself claiming that the "teh libtards let people's houses burn to save the spotted owl" or some other ignorant nonsense. That's why random fires are put out quickly, and the build-up problem is dealt with by doing controlled burns when conditions are favorable for the fire to not get out of control.

    81. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by hoboroadie · · Score: 1

      Many of the photos he made cannot be taken now because of so much overgrowth.

      Other than Yosemite, where prudent people used to burn the forest to promote grazing, I don't know where you are talking about.
      I've looked at a whole lot of his work.

      --
      They feared that it could be used to suppress protest or support unpopular rule.
    82. Re: I thought weather was not climate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Something like 92% of fires in the USA are caused by humans.

    83. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      Something that gets worse over the course of decades, in contrast, is a long-term pattern.

      That's a short term pattern. I'm a geologist, you insensitive clod!

      What's the shortest Milankovitch cycle? 21000 years or so. Now you're starting to talk about short-term or long-term. Or if you're looking at things that humans are likely to give a shit about, you'd be looking at around a generation (20-30 years, rather dependent on social factors and getting longer by a few years per generation).

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
    84. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by dave420 · · Score: 1

      You'd have a point if you were right, but as you just pulled that out your ass, you're incorrect. Yes, fossil fuels were create from living organisms, but the coal we currently burn was created simply because microbes didn't exist which could break down the trees. Now those microbes exist, any trees which fall will begin to rot, and they will not turn into coal. The cycles of which you speak haven't existed for billions of years. You really should crack a book once in a while to stop yourself from inadvertently confusing your opinion with fact and haranguing reality for daring to disagree with you.

    85. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by hawkfish · · Score: 2

      So the fuel just built up everywhere and then when something happens to ignite it, be it lightening or a cigarette, the little fires have a greater probability of becoming bigger fires. Time means more fuel, greater risk. Tick tick tick. So then after awhile we get these huge fires. What do those smart intellectuals do? Do they review their suggestions of the past? Take into account the bureaucratic BS that contributed to these fires? No! First, they smoke a bowl and later .... they say "Let's help that farmer who lost his ranch. Let's help those people who lost there homes. Let's explain to them that it is all mankind's fault." They then go on to explain BS like carbon foot prints and how that is why fires are worse. It is also why flooding is worse or droughts or pretty much anything, and the only way to fix it is to accept global collectivism. Yup, only with global collectivism can we prevent forest fires.

      Leaving aside your rabid ad hominem remarks about collectivism, your claim that increased fires are due to increased fire load has in fact been studied and discounted . In other words, those of us in the "reality-based community" (i.e. "libtards") are a lot more self-critical than you. Which is why we do science and you do politics.

      --
      You will not drink with us, but you would taste our steel? - Walter Matthau, The Pirates
    86. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by rezme · · Score: 1

      You might have had a point somewhere in there, but I'm afraid I wasn't able to see it through all the ad hominem attacks. You seem (just based on your verbiage) to have a serious problem with "intellectuals" or anyone with a college degree for that matter. Also, when you start your statements with an original and witty zinger like "libtards" you pretty much shut down anyone who you might be trying to convince with your arguments. Instead of talking down to people, how about you make your points, supply actual evidence, and let people sort out the merits of your argument sans personal attacks. But, I guess that wouldn't be as much fun as talking down to "intellectuals" and painting them to be stupid. I don't know you from Adam, but you seem (again, based on your verbiage) to be the sort that would knock the books out of a "nerd's" hands in school just to enjoy watching them scramble to pick them up...

    87. Re:I thought weather was not climate... by strikethree · · Score: 1

      The government back in the 90s decided their brilliant fire policies could be even more brilliant. Instead of letting small fires burn (some seeds and bugs only grow/hatch after a fire), but no no no, people in universities and in Washington, these intellectuals, were smarter than nature or those western ranching folks with no college degree.

      Your dates are wrong. I did volunteer work with the Forestry Service in New Mexico in the early 80s. The rangers explained to us why we were doing what we were doing and how it helped the forest. We created fire breaks that would allow fires to burn without growing uncontrollably even back then. The rangers did mention a time when the policy was to put out all fires no matter how small but I do not recall them saying when exactly that policy was reversed.

      In short, your information is correct but your dates are off by at least a decade.

      --
      "Someone needs to talk to the tree of liberty about its ghoulish drinking problem." by ohnocitizen
  3. Accoeding to arsonists by drainbramage · · Score: 5, Informative

    We would like to give our heartiest thanks to the politicians that have made it illegal to clear under-brush or to provide any reasonable wildfire suppression activities.

    --
    No brain, no pain.
    1. Re:Accoeding to arsonists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Wow first four comments are global warming deniers and all post within six minutes. Earn that pay, boys!

    2. Re:Accoeding to arsonists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      YUP, this has no correlation to bad land management , no sir, none at all.....

    3. Re:Accoeding to arsonists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      But try letting fires burn to clear underbrush when politically-connected people build million dollar homes in the same forests. It suddenly becomes much tougher.

    4. Re:Accoeding to arsonists by DiamondGeezer · · Score: 2

      But clearing the underbrush causes CO2 to be produced causing temperatures to rise...

      --
      Tubby or not tubby. Fat is the question
    5. Re:Accoeding to arsonists by Pino+Grigio · · Score: 1, Troll

      Precisely the problem. The Greens have prevented the kind of land management you need in order to prevent brushfires spreading. The end result? More , bigger and more deadly brushfires. Crazy loons.

    6. Re:Accoeding to arsonists by Pino+Grigio · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The first post criticising a "denier" is made by an anonymous coward. Remarkable.

    7. Re:Accoeding to arsonists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How appropriate that the first smug counter-reason post is made by a wine.

    8. Re:Accoeding to arsonists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      yeah, tell me about it. Back in the old days, ole AC would have blamed burning down California on the niggers.

    9. Re:Accoeding to arsonists by OneAhead · · Score: 2

      In all fairness, yes, there are clearly fossil fuels shills at work on /., but the post you replied to does not seem to be one of them. There are many places in the world where certain forestry-related policies are under heavy controversy because they are now generally accepted to increase the incidence and severity of wildfires. While in my opinion, there is enough independent evidence to cautiously suggest that global warming (which itself is not in dispute in scientific circles) is more likely to make bush fires worse than better (dry areas getting dryer and all that), forestry practices such as underbrush cutting have a rightful place in any discussion about wildfires. I know the shills have worn our patience very thin, but let's try to have a fair and balanced discussion, even if there are forces at work that don't want us to.

    10. Re:Accoeding to arsonists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Go back to Arkansas, Hilary. Your racism is showing.

    11. Re:Accoeding to arsonists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You have it 100% backwards. In general it's property owners who are resisting the efforts of local fire departments and governments to require brush clearance on their properties.

    12. Re:Accoeding to arsonists by Oligonicella · · Score: 1

      In all fairness, yes, there are clearly fossil fuels shills at work on /.,

      And to balance that, there are clearly AGW manics as well.

    13. Re:Accoeding to arsonists by Kohath · · Score: 1

      They take a scientific claim that the frequency and intensity of a phenomenon will increase, decade, over decade, and try to argue against it based on what the weather did last month, or that one time last year. And they make it look like the scientists are talking specifically about the specific fire last month, when they just made a statistical claim about long term averages.

      So don't exploit specific current events to promote your "scientific claims". Then, when you're not saying fires "like the ones scorching Southern California" this week are caused by global warming, you won't have to deal with the fact that these particular fires were not caused by global warming. If you want to be understood as a statistician, don't talk like a used car salesman.

    14. Re:Accoeding to arsonists by presidenteloco · · Score: 1

      Technically, they are "like" the ones scorching Southern California. Hot, yellowish red, smoky.

      Besides, it could be that as temperatures get hot, arsonists get ornery/horny. Just saying: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

      --

      Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
    15. Re:Accoeding to arsonists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Absolutely true in Australia, too. Everytime there is a devastating bushfire, there is the inevitable inquiry/Royal Commission. And every time they report, a lack of back burning over many years leading to a buildup of dry material is found to be the cause. Back burning plans are put in place, but are not carried out.

      In addition, Greens-dominated local councils are known to ban landholders from clearing vegetation on their own properties.
      http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/vegetation-clearing-rules-to-be-eased-in-fireprone-parts-of-nsw-20131113-2xf7t.html
      Note this quote from the article:
      -------------
      ""Residents in designated bushfire prone areas will not need to seek permission to sensibly clear vegetation from around their property that is posing a fire risk," Premier Barry O'Farrell said in a statement.

      "This will need to be done in an environmentally responsible manner."
      ---------------
      Clearing in an environmentally responsible manner? You either clear or you don't. And this is from a right-of-centre politician speaking AFTER the devastating bush fires. It goes to show how spooked politicians are by the green lobby.

      Finally, a mate who is a firey went down to the Blue Mountains to assist and brought back story after story of homeowners who asked repeatedly if they could clear scrub on their own land, but were threatened with fines if they did.

      Sorry this is posted as AC but I've forgotten my PW. Again. And I couldn't be stuffed recovering it. Again.

    16. Re:Accoeding to arsonists by satch89450 · · Score: 1

      Clearing the underbrush can *reduce* the amount of CO2 to be produced. Pull and chip that brush, don't burn it. Use the chips as ground cover to better protect seeds and hold water, both which promote good tree growth. Chips can be used in playgrounds instead of sand or dirt, particular chips from softwood brush. When my father was in the forest service, they cleared out brush "by hand"; the only time they lit any fires was when they needed to set a backfile to halt or steer a moving path of flame.

    17. Re:Accoeding to arsonists by Sperbels · · Score: 1

      While in my opinion, there is enough independent evidence to cautiously suggest that global warming (which itself is not in dispute in scientific circles) is more likely to make bush fires worse than better

      Why? Climate Change does not automatically make every area more prone to the kinds of disasters that frequently occur there. Why wouldn't it lessen the chance for severe wild fires? This is the kind of thinking that fuels "deniers". It's always, smaller polar caps, retreating glaciers, intensified tornadoes, wildfires, hurricanes, rising sea levels. Why not more rain in the desert or semi-arid farmland? Or the shifting of severe weather events to another area? More snow for the ski areas. Less rain for flood prone areas. Why is it always worse?

    18. Re:Accoeding to arsonists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In all fairness, yes, there are clearly fossil fuels shills at work on /.

      Of course everyone who disagrees with you is a "shill" ...

    19. Re:Accoeding to arsonists by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Precisely the problem. The Greens have prevented the kind of land management you need in order to prevent brushfires spreading.

      This is a bunch of ignorant cockery. The rich have prevented etc etc. They're the ones who buy the big spreads in the hills and then sue to prevent anyone from carrying out controller burns which might affect their views. And they're the ones who buy the laws which control the building codes which permit people to build flammable homes in the middle of a forest in the first place, which is just goddamned ignorant. We have many different kinds of homes which are not vulnerable to forest fire with adequate clearing including compressed straw bale (the straw is compressed, and covered with stucco) and earth bag, to name two of the cheapest with the least environmental impact. The greens would love to build homes like that, but they typically aren't permitted to by building codes.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    20. Re:Accoeding to arsonists by OneAhead · · Score: 2

      If you ask me, there are various degrees of likelihood:
      - smaller polar caps and rising sea levels: damn sure - we're seeing it now already and temperature at the poles correlates relatively well with global averages. The impact of this will be pretty terrible and this is already enough motivation to do something about global warming.
      - retreating glaciers: almost certain for an overwhelming majority of glaciers in the world - we're seeing it now already, often to a spectacular extent. What I don't understand is why you're classifying this as a disaster; that part is a bit reminiscent of a strawman argument. I don't think these glaciers are doing humanity that much good. They're usually not cited as a problem as such cited, but as a spectacular indicator that the greater problem of global warming is real.
      - desertification: it doesn't take cutting edge climate models to show that rising global temperatures will expand the Hadley cell. This will inevitably cause the deserts to migrate away from the equator. It is also often said it will lead to a net enlargement of the subtropical deserts, though it is a bit harder to say by how much. What also needs to be factored in is that parts of Greenland that weren't suitable for agriculture before already have become so; worldwide (I'm thinking Canada and Siberia), this effect may offset the likely expansion of the desert. So in the end, I expect only limited net loss or gain of arable zones worldwide. We are losing some of the landmass in those zones to the oceans, but expressed as a percentage, that may not be too much. However, the precautionary principle applies; not doing anything is taking a hard-to-justify risk.
      - Shifting climate zones/biomes: regardless of net gains or losses, arable land is almost certain to shift a lot (shifts in habitats is something we're seeing now already). So in terms of human food supply, the haves will become have-nots and the have-nots will become haves. These kinds of shifts have historically been associated with political instability, wars and mass migrations, so are best avoided. Not to even mention the shifts in habitable land...
      - intensified hurricanes: very likely. In simple terms, what we call the tropics will become larger (bigger Hadley cell) and warmer (correlation with global temperatures, just like the poles), and warm ocean water is the driving force of hurricanes.
      - all the other things (tornadoes, wildfires): subject to debate. Hence the very cautious language in my previous post. But honestly, when facing a near-certainty of rising sea levels and shifting climate zones, I really don't feel we need any other arguments to do something about the problem. In that sense, you have a point that haggling over these smaller things may play into the hand of the deniers, who love to carry over these uncertainties into areas that are pretty certain ("see, if they're not certain about that, how can they be certain about anything?") Putting the "UD" in FUD (the F part is saying that reducing CO2 emissions will have a huge impact on our lifestyle and will ruin our economy, which, given a sufficiently sensible plan, is poppycork).

    21. Re:Accoeding to arsonists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Simple, intuitive land management techniques, like fuel clearing, thinning, and forest fire fighting prevent small fires,

      They're not "intuitive", and easily mismanaged. Dipsticks trying to burn brush on their own little patch of land have repeatedly set fire to surrounding areas. You can find records of this kind of mistake in historic records of slash and burn agriculture.

    22. Re:Accoeding to arsonists by dbIII · · Score: 1

      Back burning plans are put in place, but are not carried out

      It's seen as a less important budget item than government assistance for car salesman (wish I was joking) which is why it isn't done as much as it should.

    23. Re:Accoeding to arsonists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unless you're about to suggest that they're being paid by some sort of underground AGW conspiracy movement, at which point we would all rightfully laugh you off, I really don't see your point. To be clear: you have no point of contention that isn't absolutely ridiculous. Would you like to rephrase your argument, or shall we commence with said laughing?

    24. Re:Accoeding to arsonists by ganjadude · · Score: 1

      It's almost as if these AGW proponents and shills had an agenda. It's almost as if there was inconvenience and loss of profit at stake. It's almost as if they were insulting peoples' intelligence by appealing to the lowest common denominator with drunk barroom argument level logic.

      yeah, the truth is both your version of the above line and mine are correct. You dont even see that you sound exactly like the type of person you are berating

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    25. Re:Accoeding to arsonists by geekoid · · Score: 1

      which has nothing to do wit the topic.
      They ahve been using these policies for decades, and it's been getting worse within the context of those guidelines.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    26. Re:Accoeding to arsonists by Richy_T · · Score: 1

      "By hand", walking in all the way, no doubt? Allowing the brush to burn would keep the carbon in the cycle since it would regrow eventually, using fossil fuels to move it around, and that is released permanently.

      Not that I'm big on CAGW but let's avoid shortsighted solutions.

    27. Re:Accoeding to arsonists by dave420 · · Score: 1

      You are confusing the journalist (who is engaged in journalism) with the scientist (who is engaged in science). Just because you don't like the journalism involved in bringing you the findings of the scientists doesn't magically invalidate the scientists' findings. It also doesn't allow you to ignore the science because you don't like how it's framed. Denying science because you don't like the font it's written in, or the language used by others who describe or discuss it, is rather childish.

  4. Arson is blamed on Global Warming now? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Geez we blame everything on global warming now...

    1. Re:Arson is blamed on Global Warming now? by jcr · · Score: 1

      Yep, everything.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    2. Re:Arson is blamed on Global Warming now? by OneAhead · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      Yep, because without arson, there would be no wildfires. Oh wait, no, there would.

      Or are you going to tell us that plants that are evolutionary adapted to fire or even need it to procreate were really created by God who knew there would always be humans around to start the necessary fires since the earth was created 10000 years ago?

    3. Re:Arson is blamed on Global Warming now? by OneAhead · · Score: 4, Insightful

      In case it wasn't clear, wildfires are predominantly caused by accumulation of a sufficiently large amount of sufficiently dry combustible material. Once it's there, it will inevitably catch fire one day or another, arson or not. And climate change has the potential to modulate that "sufficiently dry" attribute. It is equally true that humanity is actively modulating the "sufficiently large amount" attribute (for example by suppressing small undergrowth fires and by not cutting the undergrowth that would otherwise be removed by these fires), which doesn't make things any better. But arson has relatively little to do with it.

    4. Re:Arson is blamed on Global Warming now? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's climate disruption, and this is most certainly anthropogenic, i.e., the result of human activity. As long as Republicans are allowed to continue to destroy the environment that they hate with fire, these things will never stop.

    5. Re:Arson is blamed on Global Warming now? by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

      The arsonists are simply setting the fires to not only assuage their own grief over our continued CO2-abuse of Mother Gaia, but to draw attention to the evils of man, and the pollution fomented and created by Big Oil.

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    6. Re:Arson is blamed on Global Warming now? by ganjadude · · Score: 1

      you realize its the environmentalists (usually democrat) who are the people who are not allowing people to do proper burns, and as such causing bigger fires.

      environmentalists LOVE to talk about how "deniers" only like to think about the now and damn the repercussions. The environmentalists are equally as bad as deniers in the aspect that they dont understand common sense practices like allowing brush fires to burn and clearing brush that would have been burned if allowed to burn.

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    7. Re:Arson is blamed on Global Warming now? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And climate change has the potential to modulate that "sufficiently dry" attribute.

      Not in Southern California, where native plants have purposefully become "sufficiently dry" for millions of years in order to fuel yearly wildfires as a part of their propagation cycles. That hypothesis has more weight in Yellowstone, but there hasn't been an abundance of wildfires in Yellowstone as of late.

    8. Re:Arson is blamed on Global Warming now? by dave420 · · Score: 2

      It's not environmentalists who don't want the burns. Environmentalists (their party affiliation doesn't matter) know that it's beneficial to have controlled burnings. The people who do complain are the land owners, who have acres of prime real estate perched on expensive hills. At least get your facts straight. You railing on environmentalists is hilarious in itself, but highlights a disconcerting pattern - that there are more people like you out there who will gladly and easily substitute their idea of reality for that which they perceive, where they can cleanly paint things in black and white, "them vs. us", team mentality, twisting their perception of the world and the facts it contains simply to give their team a perceived advantage, even though everyone knows their house of cards will come tumbling down at some point.

      Grow up. Please. Do the world a favor - you are embarrassing yourself.

    9. Re:Arson is blamed on Global Warming now? by ganjadude · · Score: 1

      where I am our people would LOVE to burn on their own land, but the regulations put in place by the environmentalists wont allow us to do so. So while perhaps thats how it works where you are, it works the way I explained where I live

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
  5. No, no it's not. by Etcetera · · Score: 2, Interesting

    First of all, it's "climate change" now and not "global warming"... some spots are having much cooler temperatures instead.

    Secondly, droughts happen. The history of California is the history of water politics mainly because most of SoCal is a semi-arid desert. San Diego in particular has a giant desert separating us from the rest of the country -- even LA.

    Thirdly, unless you've just moved to San Diego, you're quite aware of the 2003 and 2007 fires. These were (also) not the result of global warming.

    Fourthly, there's good reason to believe that at least some of the ones this week were started by (d-bag) arsonists.

    It's over-broad statements like this from "scientists" that give credence to the assertion that climate scientists are thinking with the social policy side of their brains instead of the factual side. /signed
    Native San Diegan; MRC/former CERT member; non-scientist.

    1. Re:No, no it's not. by gmuslera · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Climate change is consequence of global warming. And that "warming" is not one that you would easily notice (a few tenths of degrees in the average global temperature each year), but still have effects everywhere, including (and changing) the climate. And if you want, that warming is caused in a good degree by human activity, incrementing the percent of some greenhouse gases (like CO2) in the atmosphere. And it have more consequences than just incrementing temperature, like ocean acidification.

      How you make people aware of slow, hard to notice small changes in global trends? Pointing out some of the most visible consequences as they are being discovered/correlated etc. If i tell you that CO2 in atmosphere increased a 100% and you see the air around you normal, you won't worry about it. If i tell you that the average global temperature increased 1-2 C, you see local weather events, see that nothing really big changed (or worse, that in some regions were colder than in other years) and still won't care/do anything about it. So the effort is showing you that there are visible things that hits you that are consequences of those otherwise hard to see (in a short time span, in a narrow geographical sense) trends.

    2. Re:No, no it's not. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      First of all, it's "climate change" now and not "global warming"... some spots are having much cooler temperatures instead.

      Secondly, droughts happen. The history of California is the history of water politics mainly because most of SoCal is a semi-arid desert. San Diego in particular has a giant desert separating us from the rest of the country -- even LA.

      Thirdly, unless you've just moved to San Diego, you're quite aware of the 2003 and 2007 fires. These were (also) not the result of global warming.

      Fourthly, there's good reason to believe that at least some of the ones this week were started by (d-bag) arsonists.

      It's over-broad statements like this from "scientists" that give credence to the assertion that climate scientists are thinking with the social policy side of their brains instead of the factual side. /signed
      Native San Diegan; MRC/former CERT member; non-scientist.

      Which of "longer" and "more" you do not understand?

    3. Re:No, no it's not. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Soooo true

    4. Re:No, no it's not. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      wildfires are NOT visible consequences though, especially when their is evidence they were intentionally lit by arseholes that get off seeing things burn. Pointing at such events as evidence of climate change hurts the credibility of the scientists in this area.

    5. Re:No, no it's not. by Dorianny · · Score: 4, Informative

      First of all, it's "climate change" now and not "global warming"... some spots are having much cooler temperatures instead.

      Global warming refers to the rise of the average temperature of Earth's climate system. The effect of global warming is climate change, a change in global or regional climate patterns.

    6. Re:No, no it's not. by BobandMax · · Score: 1

      Yes, and I remember some really strong "Santa Ana" conditions (like the one in which these recent human-set fires occurred) in the late seventies when we were said to be slipping into a new Ice Age. Global Warming / Climate Change / Climate Disruption is terribly convenient. You can blame or explain everything within its context.

      --

      "Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
      -- Pablo Picasso
    7. Re:No, no it's not. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, are there any positive impacts from global warming/climate change/climate disruption/what have you? Ever single consequence that I ever see people talking about is negative--drought, fire, sea level rise, spread of disease, extinction, etc.

      Are there any possible positives looking ahead?

    8. Re:No, no it's not. by Moridineas · · Score: 1

      (Accidentally posting as AC, so, reposting)

      Are there any positive impacts from global warming/climate change/climate disruption/what have you? Ever single consequence that I ever see people talking about is negative--drought, fire, sea level rise, spread of disease, extinction, etc.

      Are there any possible positives looking ahead?

    9. Re:No, no it's not. by rHBa · · Score: 1

      Unlikely for our species, the cockroaches on the other hand...

    10. Re:No, no it's not. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey, the globe is warming faster than that...it usually warms 40 or 50 degrees, especially in the spring,

    11. Re: No, no it's not. by Namarrgon · · Score: 4, Informative

      Sure. Look at the IPCC AR5 WGII report, it discusses benefits as well as costs.

      It's just that the costs and risks appear to greatly outweigh the benefits, or the benefits are long-term enough that the short-term costs of adaption will outweigh them for a very long time.

      --
      Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
    12. Re:No, no it's not. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Santa Ana conditions normally happen in late summer and in fall, not in late winter or spring. What's been happening in the last six months is somewhat out of the norm.

    13. Re:No, no it's not. by Oligonicella · · Score: 1

      You mean other than the news that production has increased, biodiversity is on the increase and so forth?

    14. Re:No, no it's not. by gmuslera · · Score: 1

      The problem of changes is when you depend on things that requires stability, like, i.e. agriculture. Farming requires that for a lot of time (i.e. a whole year) you won't have floods, drizzles, hailstorms, droughts and so on. And if well we can cope with losing isolated crops, if that becomes widespread a lot of people will die, and in a not pleasant way exactly.

      But yes, could be upsides from that changes. Eventually we will reach a new balance. Life will prevail in a way or another. And one of the most destructive species that ever existed in this planet could vanish. Maybe even that would lead to really intelligent beings in this planet at last.

    15. Re:No, no it's not. by gtall · · Score: 3, Interesting

      "How you make people aware of slow, hard to notice small changes in global trends?"

      Ans: pay attention to Miami. The city administration is making plans for sea level rise. It isn't because they expect it, it is because it is already happening and costing them money. There are similar problems in Norfolk, but there the county Republicans have passed resolutions saying it isn't happening, so they don't have to do anything. The Navy, however, with a big base there, is making plans. Hmmm...the Navy? Those clear-eyed sailors of the ocean blue...whose job it is to understand the seas...who spend a lot of money on oceanography and just about everything that effects their operation...them? Yup. It seems they have no problems with assessing climate change and are even attempting to do their part and develop propulsion systems that do not add carbon to the atmosphere. And who would oppose that? Why those scientists who are masquerading as Republicans in Congress. It seems they are upset at the Navy for not declaring carbon is not a problem and they should sit on their arses while the basis of their operation is changing.

    16. Re:No, no it's not. by BitZtream · · Score: 1

      Contrary to what you may think, cockroaches depend on humans for survival on most of the planet. They only survive in tiny band of regions.

      Cockroaches would take a hell of a population hit if humans didn't exist to feed them and provide heat/air conditioning for them to thrive.

      --
      Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
    17. Re:No, no it's not. by gtall · · Score: 1

      The Conservatives and Libertarians get to eat crow?

    18. Re:No, no it's not. by gmuslera · · Score: 1

      It is not focusing on how wildfires start (that may had been by people or not, by accident or intentionally) but how bigger are the consequences now. Changing rain patterns means that big areas with plenty of trees could get little water for months, it will turn to be very vulnerable to small fires (even unintentional ones, like caused by throwing a smoke or a broken bottle), and that won't be rain to give it a rest. Over the last months there had been very extensive wildfires in Australia, Spain, California and other places because that very reason.

    19. Re:No, no it's not. by CanadianRealist · · Score: 4, Informative

      Fourthly, there's good reason to believe that at least some of the ones this week were started by (d-bag) arsonists.

      The claim is that climate change is making the fires worse. That's very different than the question of how any one fire started.

      Your argument is like pointing to a smoker killed in a car crash and saying "see, cigarettes don't cause cancer."

      Maybe someone did start some of the fires. That's happened in the past as well. The real question is, are the fires worse now? From the article: in the 80's an average of 2.9 million acres burned each year, from 2010 to 2013 it was 6.4 million acres per year. That sounds quite a bit worse. Maybe the last few years were just unlucky years, or maybe the fires really are getting worse.

      Maybe it's statements like yours from "non-scientists" arguing issues other than the ones raised that are confusing things.

    20. Re:No, no it's not. by 517714 · · Score: 2

      Florida's problem IS man made, but it isn't rising sea levels, it is that they built canals to drain the water and now they have compounded the natural subsidence of the land that has been ongoing for tens of thousands of years, with the man made subsidence due to water extraction. Most of the East coast is sinking at a rate that exceeds the predicted rise due to melting ice and warming water. Norfolk is near the site of a meteor impact 35 million years ago that is responsible for its faster rate of subsidence. These are geological rather than climatological issues. The Navy is planning to deal with the issue, but it isn't rising water - it's sinking land.

      --
      The US government have made it clear that we have no inalienable rights; any we do not defend vigorously will be taken.
    21. Re:No, no it's not. by BobandMax · · Score: 1

      Not true. We have "Santa Anas" every Christmas in San Diego. They can happen any time of the year. I've been here more than a while and seen years range from ~5" of rain to ~29". Weather and climate both vary. The problem is that some folks are abusing temperature data and statistical models to blame a specific cause, and, make money in the bargain.

      --

      "Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
      -- Pablo Picasso
    22. Re:No, no it's not. by MaskedSlacker · · Score: 2

      Fire ignition is not a consequence. Fire sustenance IS a consequence. Warmer temps, drier climate = fires that burn more land faster before they are brought under control. Which is what the article says.

    23. Re:No, no it's not. by riverat1 · · Score: 1

      Also these prognostications are based on "models" which have absolutely zero skill.

      What qualifies you to make that judgement?

    24. Re:No, no it's not. by riverat1 · · Score: 2

      You just keep believing that. Meanwhile global sea level is up over 2 inches since 2000. When you're only a few feet above sea level to begin with that's significant. Subsidence just makes it worse.

    25. Re:No, no it's not. by mathfeel · · Score: 2

      Thirdly, unless you've just moved to San Diego, you're quite aware of the 2003 and 2007 fires. These were (also) not the result of global warming.

      I remember both of those cases well: classes are cancelled for a week, because they occurred during Fall semester in September/October. This one is in May. Having a longer fire season is exactly what the OP is stating.

      --
      The only possible interpretation of any research whatever in the 'social sciences' is: some do, some don't
    26. Re:No, no it's not. by Eunuchswear · · Score: 1

      Hey, the globe is warming faster than that...it usually warms 40 or 50 degrees, especially in the spring,

      No. The globe does not warm in spring.

      Hints:

      1. There is no spring in the tropics.
      2. Northen hemisphere spring is Southern hemisphere autumn and vice versa.

      --
      Watch this Heartland Institute video
    27. Re:No, no it's not. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      check the shift in population during the same period you cite

    28. Re:No, no it's not. by Pino+Grigio · · Score: 1

      It's a very simple qualification called looking at the divergence of lines representing actual reality and models, on one or more graphs, and laughing my arse off. You could easily learn this skill too but the prerequisite is to remove your head from up your own backside, so I'm not sure whether you'll succeed.

      Good luck with it anyway.

    29. Re:No, no it's not. by geekoid · · Score: 1

      Climate change and global warming are TWO DIFFERENT THINGS. No names have been changed.

      Global warming is the increase in global temperature. Increase in trapped energy, really.
      Climate change is the impact of the increasing temperature.
      http://www.skepticalscience.co...

      Yes, droughts happen. SO what? How are the changing? frequent? HInt: Worse and more often.

      No one is saying the firs are a result of global warming, specifically. Just that there are more of them, the last longer, and the happen sooner. Did you know that last year fire season didn't end?

      Yes, some(one) where caused by arson. so what? How hot did they get, how did the spread, home long did it take to extinguish?

      How is this an over-broad statements like this from "scientists" . It's forma n actual scientist, btw. I'm not sure why you think you need quotes.
      Is it an implied ad hom at the article, Or to show your a dumb ass. haha, I kid, it's both.

      "The fires in California and here in Arizona are a clear example of what happens as the Earth warms, particularly as the West warms, and the warming caused by humans is making fire season longer and longer with each decade,"

      So tired of you idiots.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    30. Re:No, no it's not. by geekoid · · Score: 1

      Thanks for telling us you don't know what a model is or how they work.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    31. Re:No, no it's not. by geekoid · · Score: 1

      Nothing long term. People who say there are advantages seem to thing the CO2 output will stop at that point. 1000 PPM and people become drowsy. How is that going tom effect civilization? when no one can think straight?

      That's not even getting into the impacts on feeding people and more arid land.

      acceptable levels: 600 ppm - This is inside a building. FYI.
      complaints of stiffness and odors: 600 - 1000 ppm
      ASHRAE and OSHA standards: 1000 ppm
      general drowsiness: 1000 - 2500 ppm
      adverse health effects expected: 2500 - 5000 ppm
      maximum allowed concentration within a 8 hour working period: 5000 ppm

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    32. Re:No, no it's not. by geekoid · · Score: 1

      well.. don't look at one area. Look at the globe and whats happening. There are places that refuse to allow plans for a rising sea level.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    33. Re:No, no it's not. by riverat1 · · Score: 1

      geekoid is right. You really don't have a clue about how climate models are supposed to work in the first place. Just because they don't work they way you think they should doesn't mean they are wrong.

    34. Re:No, no it's not. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course, the 2003 and 2007 fires were in October, NOT in May (I remember quite well, my house almost burned down both times)

    35. Re:No, no it's not. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unfortunately, practical people (navy, city council) fixing the problems that climate change is presenting them, is not going to result in any wider awareness. And those actions certainly are not going to convince people that 1) we are causing the problem, or 2) if we are causing the problem there is anything we can do about it or 3) if we are causing the problem and can do something about it, the rest of the world won't, so there is no point.

      I suspect we will end up just paying for increased costs of more intense floods, droughts, rising seas, increased heating/cooling costs, etc.. basically just like we paid for people to get expensive Emergency room care, instead of paying for the cheaper preventative care up front for so long.

      Spend a couple trillion now on upgrading the electric grid, putting in energy storage, subsidizing various renewables, etc... vs paying 4-5 trillion later dealing with all the climate change damage. Like we always do, we'll pick the most expensive inefficient path. However, that path is guaranteed to not rock the boat too much and make all the existing wealthy people more wealthy. So win win right? ;)

    36. Re:No, no it's not. by Pino+Grigio · · Score: 1

      I know a divergence when I see one. I know how hindcasting should work. I understand model tuning. I know what an ensemble is. I'm a software developer in a scientific discipline. The thing is I no longer give a fuck what people like you think because I know you're wrong and I've known for 10 years or more that you're wrong. Yet still you keep coming back, somehow, still being wrong and not knowing what the fuck you're talking about, dissembling, ignoring the problems, telling lies, making up bullshit, not understanding statistics, shutting dissenters out of the debate, you name it.

      It's actually becoming quite hilarious to watch public trust in science implode. It used to be something that I found quite distressing, but now I see it as an inevitable process of renewal as the frauds and snake-oil salesman at work in today's institutions turn them and themselves into laughing stocks. Of course the truth will bubble to the surface. It doesn't respect reputations or consensus, does it.

    37. Re:No, no it's not. by dave420 · · Score: 1

      Translation: "because I know everything, can never be wrong, and I know that an unnamed graph can somehow overturn a large scientific discipline".

    38. Re:No, no it's not. by dave420 · · Score: 1

      All that tells us is that you get your scientific information from the non-scientific press. I don't know why you'd think that would make anyone listen to you when it comes to scientific matters. I also find it rather concerning that you would confuse newspapers and scientific journals, and not be aware of doing so for decades. Was your education that bad?

    39. Re:No, no it's not. by riverat1 · · Score: 1

      Of course the truth will bubble to the surface. It doesn't respect reputations or consensus, does it.

      On that we can agree.

      I sounds to me like you expect climate models to be better at projecting short term variations than they are. That's an unrealistic expectation. The classical climatological period is 30 years for a reason.

  6. Weather vs. climate by neglogic · · Score: 1, Troll

    All weather supports global warming until it doesn't. Then it's just weather.

  7. It's just Disney preparing to promote... by Powercntrl · · Score: 1

    ...their rumored sequel to Frozen:

    Anna the Fire Princess

    Hey, fans of the movie already blamed the exceptionally cold winter on Elsa.

    --

    ---
    DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
  8. Global Warming is the solution! by Zargg · · Score: 3, Funny

    Make the ice caps melt faster, flood San Diego to put the fires out!

  9. Global warming causes everything by Kohath · · Score: 2, Informative

    Here is the list.

    1. Re:Global warming causes everything by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A study that will soon be published will show that an increase of nonsensical climate studies is correlated with the increasing global temperature. This will prove what global IQ levels are inversely proportional to increasing temperature. This study will surely get published when it's warm enough.

  10. I support Global Warming ! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Disclaimer: I'm Canadian.

    1. Re:I support Global Warming ! by Eunuchswear · · Score: 2

      Disclaimer: I'm Canadian.

      Please don't forget to prepare places for all your new neighbours from Bangladesh, West Africa, Vietnam and so on.

      --
      Watch this Heartland Institute video
  11. Global warming causes tooth decay by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Latest study provides conclusive proof

    1. Re:Global warming causes tooth decay by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And crotch rot.

  12. But this is a light fire year by weiserfireman · · Score: 4, Informative

    Every year there are devastating fires somewhere. But we have to look at the acreage and number of fires.

    Last year was a light fire year. About 20% lighter than the 10 year average.

    So far this year, we are about 15% behind the 10 year average in the number of wildland fires. And we are about 50% behind in the number of acres burned.

    http://www.nifc.gov/fireInfo/n...

    Honestly, I still expect overall the world's climate will be getting wetter with global warming. There might be some regions that will get drier, but warmer oceans mean more evaporation. Warmer temperatures mean the air can hold more moisture resulting in higher humidity. Eventually that higher humidity has to result in more rainfall somewhere. But even if higher humidity doesn't result in rain, higher humidity does result in less aggressive fire behavior.
          I am not a climate scientist. I have a lot of people scoff at me when I say this, but they never explain how I am wrong. I can read the projections but the projections never seem to include the increased levels of ocean evaporation that I expect.

    1. Re:But this is a light fire year by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Increased levels of ocean evaporation are (surprise) mostly over the oceans. Why would current desert or dry areas, which are probably not downwind of nearby lakes or oceans, experience higher humidity? As I see it, areas that are currently dry will become dryer with global warming, moist areas will likely become moister, and areas in between could go either way. And seasonal effects will confound a lot of naive predictions...

    2. Re:But this is a light fire year by jwhitener · · Score: 1

      You are kind of right about the increased rain. On average, yeah, more rain. But it is typically going to fall during the normal "rainy season" for an area. And much more of it. But mostly in areas that already have run.

      So areas of California may have a wetter winter/spring, producing a lot more vegetation, which will dry out by summer. That will just lead to more material to burn.

      But some places that typically do not get much rain, will just get dryer as the climate warms. It is hard to make blanket statements. You really have to look at a particular area and all its factors to know for sure.

  13. photos are shocking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    saw some photos of the wildfires outside of San Jose. Wow. Fires look worst than the ones outside of Los Angeles (Santa Claria or Ventura City, I think) that happened last year. seems every year the wildfires in Cali and Arizona keep getting worse.

    plus, the drought and high winds aren't helping.

    1. Re:photos are shocking by BobandMax · · Score: 1

      Maybe they're just taking better pictures.

      --

      "Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
      -- Pablo Picasso
  14. WMD on credit MANufractured 'weather' firestorms by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    leaving us a thin atmostfear of breathless anticipation http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=wmd+manufactured+weather pretense of imaginary chosenness is obsoletely fatal still. when even one innocent spirit is treated poorly anywhere we really all 'feel' the discomfort & must return to pretense to continue to 'function' in a spiritdead capacity

  15. Man is responsible for larger wildfires ... by perpenso · · Score: 4, Insightful

    First off, I am *not* a climate change denier.

    That said, wildfires are a very complicated topic and man is responsible for their increased size and devastation. However the man made activity that has a huge impact here is fire fighting. This has been known for many decades. The problem is that the natural cycle of fires leads to smaller fires. These smaller fires prevent fuel from accumulating and they provide a patchwork of natural firebreaks to a degree. Our habit of stomping out every single fire as it starts just leads to more and more fuel accumulating over larger and larger areas. The result is the larger and more devastating fires.

    Preventing the natural burn cycle sets us up for larger fires. We need to be more strategic about our fire fighting in rural and wilderness settings.

    1. Re:Man is responsible for larger wildfires ... by Mashiki · · Score: 5, Informative

      Preventing the natural burn cycle sets us up for larger fires. We need to be more strategic about our fire fighting in rural and wilderness settings.

      Great idea, back in the 80's when I used to visit Socal, they'd burn out the hills every summer. Worked like a charm to keep the fires down, then the environmentalists, idiots with the mansions in the hills, and nimby's started throwing a hissy fits on every pro-active burn program out there. Everything from "it's making the air bad," to "it's not natures way."

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    2. Re:Man is responsible for larger wildfires ... by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 0

      However the man made activity that has a huge impact here is fire fighting. This has been known for many decades. The problem is that the natural cycle of fires leads to smaller fires. These smaller fires prevent fuel from accumulating and they provide a patchwork of natural firebreaks to a degree......

      Excellent point, that was one of my first thoughts as I read the headline. Its claims like this that cause many people that exercise common sense to raise doubts about all GW claims. Alarmists would do us all a favor and tone it down a bit.

    3. Re:Man is responsible for larger wildfires ... by riverat1 · · Score: 1

      Larger fires because of larger fuel loads doesn't preclude global warming from also having an effect. It's not an either/or thing.

    4. Re:Man is responsible for larger wildfires ... by perpenso · · Score: 1

      Larger fires because of larger fuel loads doesn't preclude global warming from also having an effect. It's not an either/or thing.

      The problem is that the same ecosystems crosses the US/Mexican border. And on the US side we have the larger fires while on the Mexican side we have the more natural patchwork of smaller fires. Its fire suppression policies that change at the border not the climate.

    5. Re:Man is responsible for larger wildfires ... by ganjadude · · Score: 1

      no but the simplest answer is usually the correct one

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    6. Re:Man is responsible for larger wildfires ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Perhaps nothing illustrates the levels of fanaticism of the AGW crowd than people feeling the need to preface contrary opinions with the phrase, "I am not a denier".

      It's like someone having to say "I am not a racist" before they point out the high levels of black on black crime or other issues in a minority community.

    7. Re:Man is responsible for larger wildfires ... by geekoid · · Score: 1

      AGW and CA fire management as separate issues. With the new fire management system we have seen impacts from global warming on top of impacts for fire management change.

      You're understanding of the history of fire management in CA is lacking, but that's a different topic.

      Just so you know, they still do pre-fire management.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    8. Re:Man is responsible for larger wildfires ... by geekoid · · Score: 1

      NO. you re looking at one aspect and applying too much to it.

      The question is: What has the Mexican side of the border seen? are the smaller fires hotter? have that change the number of smaller fires? is it working?

      I honestly thing I am the only one on /. that knows why the fire management system was changed.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    9. Re:Man is responsible for larger wildfires ... by Mashiki · · Score: 1

      Just so you know, they still do pre-fire management.

      It's been 11 years since they did a burn in banning/beaumont(that's riverside and area). Just a FYI, and in some places the needles are 6" deep.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
  16. Perhaps in part by wjcofkc · · Score: 1

    Okay, so I accept that the expansive worsening of fire season may be at least in part caused by global warming, climate change, or whatever we are calling it this week. But I squarely point my finger at the logging industry and decades of mismanaging re-forestation as a substantial contributor that is just now catching up with us.

    --
    Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
  17. Re:"According to scientists" by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Funny

    Ya, well others say just the opposite.

    You're right. Here's a photo of one:

    http://www.constantinereport.c...

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  18. Ever watch a weather forecast? by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    Increased levels of ocean evaporation are (surprise) mostly over the oceans.

    How many times have they talked about moisture "streaming in from the gulf".

    Did you think that meant it was piped over? Perhaps by the same tubes carrying your internet?

    I wonder what you think the combination of ambient moisture and winds do...

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  19. Re:"According to scientists" by MrBigInThePants · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Very true and very few scientists would ever suggest that.

    What it typically means you devote your life to pursuing the truth of some small aspect of the universe and study, test and discuss the various theories surrounding this area.This means that you can be considered an expert on the subject.

    The "others" are a bunch of people who pull opinions out of their arse at best or purposely malign the truth for their own ends at worst.

    For you to say such things betrays a level of ignorance that is truly awesome to behold - assuming you are not just trolling for the sake of it which just makes you a common garden variety douche bag. Regardless of your own insignificant thoughts and motivations the thought process you describe appears to be a relatively common one.

    But fear not, the reasons for your ignorance and/or troll-like behaviour is something studied, tested and discussed in the field of psychology by scientists!

  20. Especially When... by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 0

    Any time someone says "look how bad winter was" they are (rightfully) chided for treating a variation in weather as being "climate".

    Especially when it is very localized.

    That's the mean of temperatures at all Historical Climatology Stations in the U.S., for Jan. 1 - May 17 2014. So even when the warmth in CA and AZ is included, on average the U.S. has still been experiencing record cold this year.

    Weather vs. climate, indeed.

    1. Re:Especially When... by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Just to clarify my comment: I wasn't referring to winter. I was referring to the characterization of California fires as caused by "global warming", when the warm temperatures there are localized and far from true in the rest of the U.S.

      It illustrates exactly how alarmists have grasped at anything out of the ordinary and tried to attribute it to "climate change". But when looking at climate, one has to look at the larger picture. Neither short-term phenomena or localized events are "climate". And in fact extreme weather events have been on a downward trend since the earlier part of the 20th Century, despite the predictions of the "alarmists".

      Another record that was set recently was the time it has been in the U.S. since a major hurricane. It has been longer than at any time since records have been kept. (And FYI, before you jump to correct: Sandy was not classified as a major hurricane. It just hit more populated area than usual.)

    2. Re:Especially When... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The normal pattern of weather here in southern california over some number of years is that May and June are typically overcast months. The temperatures are mild, mornings are often cloudy (from ocean fog), and it often burns off in the afternoons. The winds, if any, are from the ocean. The weather that we are seeing now (dry air, with hot winds blowing in from the deserts in the east) is more typical of August or September. It's too soon, of course, for me to say if this is the new norm. People with a better understanding of the larger-scale weather patterns, and how they would be affected by the complicated effects of 'global warming' would be in a better position to know if this is an anomaly.

    3. Re:Especially When... by 517714 · · Score: 1

      It's called El Nino. It is a weather pattern that repeats irregularly due to an upwelling of warm water in the Pacific, what you describe is not anomalous at all.

      --
      The US government have made it clear that we have no inalienable rights; any we do not defend vigorously will be taken.
    4. Re:Especially When... by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 1

      It's called El Nino. It is a weather pattern that repeats irregularly due to an upwelling of warm water in the Pacific, what you describe is not anomalous at all.

      You have misunderstood my comment.

      In comparison to the rest of the U.S., temperatures in the West are anamolous. Though of course if you want to be technical, you are correct that it isn't the El Nino that is anomalous, but the rest of the U.S. right now.

      My point, however, was of course not which local area is seeing more of an anomaly, but the difference between actual climate trends and scare-mongering.

    5. Re:Especially When... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How long until Jane's keen scientific skillz clue him into the fact that 517714 wasn't responding to his comment at all?

    6. Re:Especially When... by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 1

      How long until Jane's keen scientific skillz clue him into the fact that 517714 wasn't responding to his comment at all?

      About 5 seconds after I hit "submit".

      But since you indirectly brought the subject up: How long until a certain someone stops sock-puppeting under Anonymous Coward? It's called that for a reason, you know.

    7. Re:Especially When... by geekoid · · Score: 1

      Look how wrong you are:

      http://www.wunderground.com/hu...

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  21. My Farts cause global warming too by bswarm · · Score: 0

    Waiting for the Clean Air Resources Board to tax me for that too.

    1. Re:My Farts cause global warming too by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      If you filter them through a layer of pants you should be fine.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  22. Perhaps in part by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

    story

    Other than being completely factually wrong 100%, you make a good point.
    Tip: When a leftist gives you a "fact" that can be looked up, please look it up. Its amazing what you can learn, such as there are significanly more trees in the US today than 100 years ago, despite what wjcofkc claims. There are also more polar bears today then a few decades ago, and they can actually swim!

  23. Deniers of science ... by perpenso · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Wow first four comments are global warming deniers and all post within six minutes. Earn that pay, boys!

    Sorry, AC. But the deniers of science here are those who deny the effect of fire suppression policies and land management policies. Sometimes it really is the politics.

    The huge factors here are (1) fire suppression policies not allowing natural burn cycles to occur, fuel unnaturally accumulates and it does so over larger areas and (2) land management where people are allowed to build in fire prone areas but not allowed to clear brush to a "safe" distance. The result is larger fires and fires that are a high risk to homes.

    CO2 is only one of many man made problems and it is not always the leading contributor.

    1. Re:Deniers of science ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      CO2 is only one of many man made problems and it is not always the leading contributor.

      But CO2 *must* be the leading contributor and climate change the most immediate and pressing emergency, as that's a key validation and cover for the wealth and freedom we steal from you to get to a global collectivist Earth government where everyone suffers equally except the super-wealthy & powerful elites in charge and their friends.

    2. Re:Deniers of science ... by dave420 · · Score: 1

      You are confusing science with politics. If someone said that they wanted to tax the colour green or institute national ID cards to register how much green you see, it doesn't magically mean green doesn't exist. Your position is precisely the same as that.

  24. More like "Eco mismanagement" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Prevent clearing of brush to protect an endangered snail and you get wildfires that endanger multiple species. Ecoterrorism FTW!

  25. lol by Charliemopps · · Score: 0

    Oh come on... is anyone going to sit here and seriously believe this garbage? The climates what? 1 degree warmer maybe?

    The wild fires are caused by man. But not through global warming. For decades western states forest services put out every fire. As a result underbrush and dead trees build up. 1/4 of the country is a tinder box just waiting to go off now. They've since realized their folly and have more controlled burns now, but there's still a lot of fuel out there. But global warning? No wonder so many people think climatologists are idiots.

    1. Re: lol by Namarrgon · · Score: 0

      So says the guy who hasn't read the study and has no idea what the climatologists are actually saying.

      --
      Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
    2. Re:lol by dbIII · · Score: 1

      No wonder so many people think climatologists are idiots.

      That actually took years, a lot of money spent on PR, a lot of political involvement and a large supply of gullible people willing to regurgate the party line.

    3. Re:LOL by chstwnd · · Score: 1

      "It's all agenda driven." I would mod you up to a "5-Insightful" if i had the points. Actually, anyone who makes that astute observation.

    4. Re:LOL by dave420 · · Score: 2

      Translation: "I am scientifically illiterate - I get my scientific facts from newspapers and TV shows. I don't bother to research the relevant papers, and assume that things are either true or false based on who's telling me, rather than the content of their arguments. I have given up thinking, because it's scary, difficult, and challenges my perceptions of reality which keep me happy."

  26. Don't believe this one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    California has been a hot bed of wild fires since before I can remember. Attributing everything to "global warming" is crap.

  27. Let's make a deal by Opportunist · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Let's make a deal, global warming (or climate change, or whatever the buzzword of the week) deniers: You can keep your SUVs, your ACs turned to 60 degrees and all your other toys. And once the waters rise you drown like good old idiots and don't try to climb up on my mountains.

    Deal?

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:Let's make a deal by Areyoukiddingme · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Let's make a deal, global warming (or climate change, or whatever the buzzword of the week) deniers: You can keep your SUVs, your ACs turned to 60 degrees and all your other toys. And once the waters rise you drown like good old idiots and don't try to climb up on my mountains.

      I don't own an SUV and I have yet to turn my AC on this year and I live 650 miles away from the nearest ocean and I still think this article is utter bullshit. Failed forest management policies cause wildfires. End of story. Any signal from the climate is completely overwhelmed by the policies of clowns who think the "natural" way is by definition better.

      Who trusted God was love indeed
      And love Creation's final law
      Tho' Nature, red in tooth and claw
      With ravine, shriek'd against his creed

      —Alfred Lord Tennyson

    2. Re:Let's make a deal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When do you expect this to occur?

    3. Re:Let's make a deal by Opportunist · · Score: 1, Funny

      I'm done arguing. I tried to reason, it failed. Believe what you want, for all I care. I'd even not give a shit if I had a spare planet to retreat to, unfortunately, I don't.

      So all I want now is the green light to shoot to kill if those that will be flooded try to climb up my mountains to reach dry land. Nothing more.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    4. Re:Let's make a deal by PPH · · Score: 1

      don't try to climb up on my mountains.

      Don't even look at the carbon footprint of people who live in the mountains or in rural areas. Or spend time on recreation there. It's huge.

      If you have any respect for the environment, you'll move into a small apartment in a high rise in a city. You'll use mass transit and resources on your own city block. You'll never travel outside the city limits. Forget about mountain climbing, hiking, skiing, etc.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    5. Re:Let's make a deal by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      So all I want now is the green light to shoot to kill if those that will be flooded try to climb up my mountains to reach dry land.

      You sound like a sane person.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    6. Re:Let's make a deal by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Well, to be honest, for the longest time I would've traded those damn things for flat land. Not anymore when I look at the predictions. It's nice to know that I'm a few 100 feet above sea level.

      But since you don't believe in global warming, I guess my carbon footprint doesn't matter, does it? After all, what bad should it do? It has no impact on the environment, right?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    7. Re:Let's make a deal by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      If I do, this world has gotten madder than it should ever have gotten before someone presses the reset button.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    8. Re:Let's make a deal by Brett+Buck · · Score: 0

      Having your permission to continue living my life as I choose certainly takes a load off of my mind! Whew!

              Do you idiots ever actually listen to yourselves?

    9. Re:Let's make a deal by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Your acceptance that I'll put a hole in your head when you try to avoid drowning sure takes one off my mind.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    10. Re:Let's make a deal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you masturbating to Waterworld again?

    11. Re:Let's make a deal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Neither you, nor he, will live long enough for the oceans to rise more than a few inches, much less enough to make your little hill the only dry land anywhere.

    12. Re:Let's make a deal by fuzznutz · · Score: 1

      I have to say, this kind of crazy does not bolster your agenda. AGW "denialists" (for want of a better word) argue that climate change proponents are loony zealots beyond reason and now you come across as one. Do you seriously expect total anarchy from biblical flooding and world migration requiring armed resistance to protect your "mountain?" Are you a prepper too or just nuts?

    13. Re:Let's make a deal by PPH · · Score: 1

      But since you don't believe in global warming, I guess my carbon footprint doesn't matter, does it?

      Nope. And neither do you if we catch you outside city limits, living in the mountains. You'll just be one of those "I've got mine, now save the rest of the wilderness" people. No credibility.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    14. Re:Let's make a deal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't the forests naturally burn?

    15. Re:Let's make a deal by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Nah, just pissed off beyond reason. What bugs me to no end is that we discuss in length whether or not sea levels might or may not rise, and whether we should prepare for it, knowing that IF it happens a good portion of the world population will be FUCKED. We're talking about millions. Maybe billions.

      But we throw billions of dollars and our liberties away for the figment of an imagination of having something akin of security against terrorist attack which will, IF they happen, cause damage to a few hundred or maybe a few thousand people.

      Care to explain that logic to me?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    16. Re:Let's make a deal by fuzznutz · · Score: 1

      Care to explain that logic to me?

      No. You ask your question based upon a false assumption. I do not support the security theater since 9/11. You might ask someone who does.

      You on the other hand worked yourself up into a lather based upon a lot of "if" (your word, not mine). You even made threats to shoot someone based upon it. You come across as some kind of irrational apocalypse nutcase. And you sound like that anyone who does not agree with your assessment of the facts and predictions of the imminent future (in geologic scale) are not worthy to live. This is one of the big reasons AGW alarmists are having such a hard time convincing the public in general, because that is exactly how "denialists" have painted them.

  28. Bullshit. by Karmashock · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As someone that has been in regions where these wildfires have happened, I can tell you it is actually bad forest management.

    Here's the thing. In nature, forests burn on occasion. Always have. Its part of the natural process. Some species either actively encourage the fires or rely upon the fires as part of their life cycle.

    Okay, now that it is established that if left alone the forests will occasionally burn... what happens if you don't cut trees down and cut brush back on occasion and instead just leave the whole thing to take care of itself.

    It burns.

    I live in California and that has been the cause of most of our wild fires. We used to have forest management to the extent that we would subcontract logging companies to go through the forests and thin them out a bit so there was room for new growth and the whole forest didn't go up like a roman candle every 10-30 years (depends on the plant species and local climate).

    Well, that was stopped and the logging companies aren't allowed to operate in our forests anymore because they're not environmentally friendly.

    Fine... you're now putting nature in charge. And nature is going to burn that fucker down on its own schedule.

    Global warming might have something to do with this sort of thing but it is NOT what is causing the vast majority of forest fires in the US. They are caused by moronic forest management that is itself guided by crystal rubbing mystics that will say out of one side of their mouth that the environment is harmed by direct human management and then say out of the other side that nature's natural processes are all our fault.

    These people are idiots.

    And just to preempt the first fucktard that responds to this post saying I have his misguided asshattery wrong... I don't. I live here. I've seen this happen over years. I saw was we were doing before. I saw what you did, I watched the forest prime itself like a coiling spring, I saw the fires, I watched the clean up, and I've been listening to you same slack-jawed halfwits ever since point fingers at anyone besides yourselves.

    Do the Earth a favor and listen more and talk less.

    --
    I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
    1. Re:Bullshit. by lazy+genes · · Score: 0

      You are somewhat correct, but you falsely assume that humans are an intelligent species. I live in a forested area and we get forest fires every year. I built an 200 tree irrigated orchard around my house to protect it. By the time they solve the riddle as to what is causing the fires, it will be to late.

    2. Re:Bullshit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I live in California and that has been the cause of most of our wild fires.

      So it's YOUR fault!

    3. Re:Bullshit. by bswarm · · Score: 1

      Ran out of mod points, but you would've got a +1

    4. Re:Bullshit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are somewhat correct, but you falsely assume that humans are an intelligent species. I live in a forested area and we get forest fires every year. I built an 200 tree irrigated orchard around my house to protect it. By the time they solve the riddle as to what is causing the fires, it will be to late.

      Modern environmental regs would not allow you to build that orchard in many of the affected socal regions. The natural brush near your house can not be removed for your orchard because it is kangaroo rat habitat (known locally as the k-rat).

    5. Re:Bullshit. by Karmashock · · Score: 0

      What a vapid bit of tripe. Of course we're intelligent. We built the internet and walked on the moon.

      This is the sort vacant headed foolishness I'm talking about.

      Turn your fucking brain on. OR don't presume to be credit as having one.

      Our problems are not due to a lack of intelligence but rather due to self destructive and deluded ideologies and philosophies that are themselves illogical, anti scientific, anti modern, and frequently anti human.

      TLDR?

      Make sense. Have a plan that is actually attractive to the majority of the people that need to follow it. OR sit down and follow direction from someone with a clue.

      TLDR again?

      Lead, follow, or get out of the way.

      --
      I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
    6. Re:Bullshit. by drinkypoo · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Global warming might have something to do with this sort of thing but it is NOT what is causing the vast majority of forest fires in the US.

      That's not what the article said. I know this is slashdot, but you could try reading the article. If you don't understand it the first time, odds are the problem is you, and you should try a few more times.

      They are caused by moronic forest management that is itself guided by crystal rubbing mystics

      Ahh, this is all a rant against woo. I was wondering what you were so angry about. Did you get turned down for sex by a hippie today?

      Do the Earth a favor and listen more and talk less.

      Take your own advice, and read the fine article instead of flapping your yap. What the article said, and it's true, is that global warming makes fires more likely and it exacerbates them as well. On a hotter day, a fire spreads faster. If you don't know that, you know fuck-all about fires.

      Also, you're not an expert because you're a Californian. I don't know you're wrong because I'm a Californian, I just know you're wrong because I pay attention and I ask questions.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    7. Re:Bullshit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The crystal rubbing fucktards prefer all the trees burn in a massive fire than let a logging company in the forest to thin it out.

      I was on the ASU campus recently and there were actually people hugging trees on the palm walk. Never wanted a chainsaw so badly in all my life.

    8. Re:Bullshit. by Karmashock · · Score: 1

      Universities throughout Califoria make a point of not cutting down trees on campus during the active school year. They wait break then call in construction crews to knock them down.

      This is now standard practice throughout my state especially in northern california.

      Another common tactic is to do it at 2 am, to respond to questions as to whether they are doing it that they are not... and then doing it when no one is looking, etc.

      You can't reason with these people. Its like trying to have a conversation with a cartoon character. They have a few scripted responses and that's all they do... no reasoning with them. So you have to respond to them in kind.

      It helps that every single one of them is stupid. Their only dangerous in that they have numbers and tend to feel unbound by ethical, moral, and legal restrictions. Like animals you can only really stop them from doing things by literally physically making it impossible for them to stop you.

      Its standard practice for many construction crews in North California to bring tools specifically for dealing with the would be hippies. Everything from bolt cutters to gas masks.

      --
      I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
    9. Re:Bullshit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Did you just try to win an argument by suggesting someone commit suicide? You are are a coward and a sociopath. Nothing you say can ever be taken as anything but the rantings of a lunatic. Kindly go fuck yourself you babbling dipshit.

    10. Re:Bullshit. by Karmashock · · Score: 1

      No. My argument was never in jeopardy. His pathetic attempt to counter me was an utter failure. I pointed that out. I noted that his stupid insults only revealed his utter lack of worth... unless as I said he is a grade school student. In which case, his label of halfwit can be postponed until a later date when we can be sure not to confuse the callow with the malignantly retarded. If he's older then 10 years old then he's human garbage. Thus a drain on global resources. And I concluded by suggesting he do the moral thing and recycle himself.

      Its for Gaia.

      --
      I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
    11. Re:Bullshit. by dbIII · · Score: 1

      I can't speak to Arizona but I can to California

      On nearly every issue whoever is governing California at any time acts as if they are too full of LSD to be able to find their pants. Please do not extrapolate your basket case to a world that is laughing at you - things are not quite as insane outside.

    12. Re:Bullshit. by Karmashock · · Score: 1

      First off, I'm not in charge here. I just live here. I am fully aware that the nuts are in charge of the asylum. But once they are there is really nothing you can do about it.

      Second off, the article was talking about california and Arizona, so what is going on in california is relevant to the topic.

      Third off, show me any place in the US that has had an increase in forest fires and then cross reference those areas with areas where logging companies USED to be allowed to operate and now are no longer allowed to do so for environmental reasons.

      That is a vin diagram that will match up 5 by 5.

      --
      I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
    13. Re:Bullshit. by dbIII · · Score: 2

      Meanwhile in Australia people are considering about seven triggers for the fires - one of which is fuel load and another how dry the place is (thus climate). All seven and you get huge fires. Nobody paid attention to those arguing against reducing fuel load from way back when you poor suckers had Reagan as a governor. Americans had the same information and gathered a lot of it. Don't blame the messengers just becuase you've got a bunch of losers worried more about their property values than lives.

    14. Re:Bullshit. by Karmashock · · Score: 1

      We are saying the same thing... you are literally agreeing with me... and then you presume to insult me holding an opinion you share?

      *hands dbll a clue*

      You seem to need one.

      Good day.

      --
      I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
    15. Re:Bullshit. by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      It is a false equivalency to compare the frequency of forest fires and their intensity today with a previous time when we had reasonable forest management as they are the same... and that the ONLY difference is a marginal difference in CO2 concentration.

      That is not the only difference. Stop prevaricating.

      As to your sad little attempt to suggest that my opinion is really just a consequence of some sexual failure... that is so infantile and intellectually vacant that I don't know where to start with it.

      No, you did know precisely where to start with it. You started with that tone, and now you want to cry hypocritically when you get it back. Stop prevaricating.

      Kill yourself. You are officially wasting oxygen.

      Come get me, coward. Stop prevaricating.

      Do not waste bandwidth by replying. Terminate yourself immediately.

      Come get me, coward. Stop prevaricating.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    16. Re:Bullshit. by Karmashock · · Score: 1

      As to what I said, your reading comprehension leaves a lot to be desired.

      I did not say that the only difference between case 1 and case 2 was an increase in CO2. I said that that is what the article implied.

      You are so clueless that you're agreeing with me and yet deluded into thinking you're arguing against me.

      My point is that the two cases are not the same. My point is that they are saying they only differ in that there is a marginal amount of additional CO2 and that there is no other possible reason for the fires.

      As to prevarication, you remind me of this sketch comedy:
      http://youtu.be/KrJYpActs7g?t=...

      Using the same fancy word over and over again that is clearly out of place in your personal lexicon is not a way to impress any but the simple.

      --
      I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
    17. Re:Bullshit. by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      I did not say that the only difference between case 1 and case 2 was an increase in CO2. I said that that is what the article implied.

      No, no it did not.

      Using the same fancy word over and over again that is clearly out of place in your personal lexicon is not a way to impress any but the simple.

      You think prevaricating is a fancy word? I am so not surprised. I'm simply not permitting you to make me angry today.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    18. Re:Bullshit. by Karmashock · · Score: 1

      As to what it said, it obviously did. It said there were more fires now and that that was the result of more CO2... as evidence they of course cited more fires now than then and did not point out that there have been big changes in the ways our forests are managed between time T1 and T2.

      This implies there was no significant change which since I live here and have watched it I can tell you with first hand knowledge that there was a big change.

      As to fancy words, there isn't a single word in the english language that impresses me. Rather, you'd have to construct hundreds of complex concepts together in a way that was both intellectually stimulating and asthetically harmonious to actually impress me. You've done neither. Your arguments thus far have been little more then pointing at the sun and denying its existence and then dropping the same word over and over again while assuming that that would somehow lead weight to the idiocy. And beyond that the construction of your sentences has not been especially impressive thus rendering any claim to linguistic superiority moot.

      Look, you're either 10 years old or an idiot... either way, good day, sir.

      http://heeereswilly.ytmnd.com/

      --
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    19. Re:Bullshit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are both juvenile.

    20. Re:Bullshit. by dbIII · · Score: 1

      you are literally agreeing with me

      Who said this was supposed to be some sort of debate? I'm just filling in some gaps in your knowlege from a different perspective.
      Also - where is the insult?

    21. Re:Bullshit. by dbIII · · Score: 1

      Also I don't see how you dumbing it down to one factor and deliberately ignoring climate is agreement.

    22. Re:Bullshit. by Karmashock · · Score: 1

      I do not accept that I must be labeled as such merely for slapping him down.

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    23. Re:Bullshit. by dave420 · · Score: 1

      There's your problem - you are discussing the science the article presents and not the science itself. If you read the relevant papers on this topic you'd see that the journalism slathered on top of it might be misleading or sensationalist. If you get your scientific knowledge from newspaper articles you are destined to fail when discussing topics such as these. It might stagger you to learn that the scientists also know about changes in forestry, and have factored that in. If they're wrong, write a paper and debunk them - just sitting on slashdot complaining that an article is wrong shows just how much you know and care about this topic - enough to get riled up and shouty, but not enough to actually learn anything.

    24. Re:Bullshit. by lazy+genes · · Score: 0

      I can come up with a trillion pieces of evidence that proves we are not an intelligent species. The data and evidence is everywhere. Sorry you can't see that.

    25. Re:Bullshit. by Karmashock · · Score: 1

      It depends entirely on how you define intelligence and therefore its less a debate about evidence and more one of semantics.

      That you don't already know that doesn't speak well for your own grasp of the issue. No offense.

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    26. Re:Bullshit. by Karmashock · · Score: 1

      Cite the scientific paper itself then or your argument is merely a supposition.

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    27. Re:Bullshit. by lazy+genes · · Score: 0

      The first step is to try and understand the evolutionary purpose for discrimination, racism, prejudice and patriotism. I speculate that 3 billion years ago a gene was introduced into the genome that changed behaviors or genetic belief systems. This gene halted the ability to give everything away and without it we would not be here today. With that said, it could be that we are unconsciously driven by genetic belief systems and our decisions are genetically predetermined. There is some evidence that we are coming out of that early stage of evolution and just starting to take the first baby step to becoming an intelligent species but it is still a long way away. If human intelligence is relative to its population size, I would estimate that human intelligence may be achieved when we reach 14 billion. Until then all our decisions and actions could only be considered as mechanical not intellectual. One great example of how our beliefs are mainly genetic is the prion disease. There are several types mad cow type diseases each one is species specific (will not jump species) its purpose is to stop a species from being cannibalistic. If this disease did not exist life would not have advanced. The other important prion disease is called Alzheimer's, It stops people that might think that they are intelligent from spreading bullshit to the next generations.

    28. Re:Bullshit. by Karmashock · · Score: 1

      You mistake philosophical arguments with intelligence.

      You can be racist and bigoted and yet be intelligent.

      Okay... it clear that you're not using the word "intelligence" correctly. That's fine.

      I will give you a new term which you can substitute with something else later if you don't like the designation.

      We'll call it quality X2B for now. Use that term and not intelligence unless you ACTUALLY mean intelligence in the way that Websters would mean intelligence.

      Now, you say the Human race does not display quality X2B? Explain this quality. Define it.

      If you cannot, then I would question your intelligence... as Websters defines it. There is no quality I understand that I cannot define. If you understand X2B, then you can define it.

      Do so now.

      --
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    29. Re:Bullshit. by lazy+genes · · Score: 0

      Nothing that I said was meant to be philosophical. There is no quality I understand that I cannot define, the problem is that the amount of time that it would take to explain complex biological systems is immense. Even if one part is jaded by discrimination or prejudice the ideas or theories may still work, but will eventually fail. The definition of intelligence can also be changed, when they add the time dimension to it.

  29. Re:positive impacts by presidenteloco · · Score: 1

    Yes. The Northern part of the Canadian prairie provinces might make a shitload of money selling wheat and corn to the USA, whose own production will drop considerably. However, it's still illegal in Canada to sell you clean fresh water in large amounts, so start building those desalination plants now.

    --

    Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
  30. Re:Common Sense says Environmentalists to Blame by presidenteloco · · Score: 2

    On the other hand, putting human beings (specifically, the shareholders of your company) ahead of entire eco-systems makes you a suicidal+ecocidal idiot and a nihilistic life-hater; kind of a super-villain.

    --

    Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
  31. Facts are there by SuperKendall · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    You may not care to look at facts, but they exist (search for droughts).

    I love how your response contained no links refuting what I said... because you are not basing your arguments from data, but from emotion.

    I expect your response to be something about the source of the link, without any more real facts on the matter. Good luck with that approach in life...

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Facts are there by Truth_Quark · · Score: 0

      You may not care to look at facts, but they exist [wattsupwiththat.com]

      Most people would think that a better place to look for facts would be the scientific literature.

      Watt's is a blog with a clear and counterscientific agenda.

    2. Re:Facts are there by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most people would think that a better place to look for facts would be the scientific literature.

      Since that is what was provided (where do you think the charts come from), you complaints are as full of hot air as your fear-mongering.

      Go peddle your lies elsewhere.

    3. Re:Facts are there by Namarrgon · · Score: 5, Informative

      Heh, now you accuse me of not providing links to support the claims I didn't make :-)

      But if you like. A couple of studies (of many) predicting increases in wildfires due to climate change:

      * Gonzalez et al 2010: Global patterns in the vulnerability of ecosystems to vegetation shifts due to climate change

      * Moritz et al 2012: Climate change and disruptions to global fire activity

      And a study (one of many) showing that climate is the dominant factor in the size of the wildfires we've been seeing:

      * Littell et al 2009 Climate and wildfire area burned in western US ecoprovinces:

      We demonstrate that wildfire area burned (WFAB) in the American West was controlled by climate during the 20th century (1916-2003)....For 1977-2003, a few climate variables explain 33-87% (mean = 64%) of WFAB, indicating strong linkages between climate and area burned.

      By contrast, Mr Watts' "facts" are also nothing more than unsubstantiated declarations and assumptions, just like yours. A few random examples from your link:

      * "This [CO2] percentage increase means nothing. Human CO2 emissions didn’t begin to rise significantly until after 1945": Keyword is 'significantly' - he claims the rise is not significant, but provides no justifications for this assumption, other than that the atmospheric percentage is "about as close to nothing as you can get" (it's a really small-looking number). No citations given.

      * "...there is no way that this miniscule amount [of atmospheric CO2] can have any significant effect on climate." Another unsubstantiated declaration in his "facts" list. No citations given for this claim.

      * "CO2 also lags short-term warming [historical graph] showing that warming causes rise in CO2, not the other way around if CO2 was the cause." - Incorrectly assumes that CO2 must either be a cause or an effect, but could never be both. No citations given for this "fact", either.

      * "...global climate marches in lock step with sun spots, length of the sun spot cycle, and intensity of the solar magnetic field... total solar insolation (TSI) correlates very well with climate". Once more, he just claims this as a fact, with (wait for it) no citations given.

      * "HadCRUT4 temperature curve showing that 56% of the warming since 1895 occurred prior to 1945"... according to his arbitrarily-drawn red lines. The HadCRUT4 temperature graph may well be accurate, but (of course) he provides no citation for any peer-reviewed source for his claimed "56% of warming" cut-off point (looks to me like the red line that claims to show this is just drawn to the peak of the biggest short-term fluctuation he can find, without regard to averages or trends or anything).

      I could easily go on, but I have work to do. If Watts' unbacked assertions are what you consider "facts", then it's no wonder you usually don't bother to link to them.

      --
      Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
    4. Re:Facts are there by Namarrgon · · Score: 1

      It's got graphs! It must be true!!1!

      --
      Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
    5. Re:Facts are there by catchblue22 · · Score: 1

      Excellent post, containing actual arguments and links to real papers. Unfortunately we have to put up with provocateurs here, many of whom are likely paid to post, and most of whom have almost no idea of what they are talking about. To those of you who find these corrupt denier posters troubling, remember that science is an unending search for truth. It is the best way we have of comprehending the physical world. What the deniers do is the exact opposite of science.

      We who follow science have truth and morality on our side. The power of the catholic church was once threatened by the scientist Galileo's scientific assertions that the Earth went around the Sun. He was persecuted but he stood his ground in defence of scientific truth. Now the power of oil billionaires is threatened by the scientific fact that carbon emissions are warming the Earth. They are using all their expertise in "public relations" to undermine any real action to reduce their power. But we must remember that no matter what the Grima Wormtongue deniers say, the well being of our grandchildren depends on breaking the power of these corrupt psychopathic billionaires. We must break our addiction to oil.

      --
      This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when first he appears as a protector - Plato (423 to 327 BC)
    6. Re:Facts are there by Truth_Quark · · Score: 1

      Since that is what was provided (where do you think the charts come from)

      There are many hundreds of thousands of scholarly papers on climate change now. There is no reason to go to resort to counterscientific blogs. For over 20 years about 0% of scholarly papers counter the basic finding that human activity is probably responsible for most of the current climate change.

      But Watts has never once reported on any of these papers.

      The site is extremely biased.

      Go peddle your lies elsewhere.

      Sorry?

      I said that we should use science-based sources. Your position is that that is a lie?

      Kid, the entire advantage that humans have is encompassed by science. It's not your enemy.

    7. Re: Facts are there by caveqat101 · · Score: 1

      He's not counter scientific, just as this blog isn't scientific. Blog implies disemenation of word, no truth just word to start the thought processes. Then a decision can be attempted to be formulated to a rational output. GIGO.

    8. Re:Facts are there by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 2

      Here are several papers from just one scientist that counter the concept of human-induced climate change. And they were published as well. Now how accurate is that "0% of scholarly papers" claim? Especially in light of the fact that Dr. Easterbrook's climate model (which does NOT base itself on CO2) accurately matches the past - AND predicted the current 17 year pause in warming, something none of the IPCC CO2-based models accomplished.

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    9. Re:Facts are there by ganjadude · · Score: 2

      where do i sign up for this paid to post thing, Ive been posting for free for years!

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    10. Re:Facts are there by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      chirp chirp chirp.

      Nothing but crickets. Guess Mr. Quark has nothing to counter with.

    11. Re:Facts are there by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And dammit if you won't destroy anyone who gets in your way.

      Fucking hypocrite.

    12. Re:Facts are there by geekoid · · Score: 1

      You do know all those papers have been thoroughly shot down by actual science, right?
      First read up on the man:
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D...

      http://www.skepticalscience.co...

      The man thinks the sun is causing climate change. While the sun does have an impact on climate, the suns activity bears no correlation with current trends. Not in out put, not in impact of the upper most atmosphere, non at all.

      Either he is another person talking outside their expertise and looking foolish, or he does it to sell his papers. Either way he is a horrible person.
      As much as I normally shy away from this term, I can't think of anything other way to say this: He is a Hearltand shill.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    13. Re:Facts are there by Reziac · · Score: 1

      A whole bunch more:

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L...

      Appears to be about 5%, not 0%.

      I found the sunspot-cycle correlation fascinating -- especially as it doesn't seem to suffer from the need to massage or cherrypick to reach the desired conclusion.

      Incidentally there are fungi and grasses that alter behavior depending on the sunspot cycle.

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    14. Re:Facts are there by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

      Yet here we are, published papers disputing man-caused climate change. Contrary to the claim of the GP. And the best you can do is attack the character of just one such scientist who's made these suppposed non-existent papers. Facts are facts, hard claims are hard claims, and when those claims are proven to be false (more than 0 means greater than 0) the wise, honest person would simply say "yes, I was wrong" and carry on. The fanatic carries on as if it is a religion, attacking the "heretics" who dare question his chosen religion and ignores the facts counter to his beliefs.

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    15. Re:Facts are there by dave420 · · Score: 1

      He should have said "the number of published peer-reviewed papers which have survived the peer-review process intact", which does indeed come out to 0. Linking to the list of non-climatologists who don't like the idea of AGW, or posting up links to papers which have been shredded by peer review also doesn't help your case. The fact of the matter is this is settled science - the work being done now is to improve the accuracy.

    16. Re:Facts are there by Truth_Quark · · Score: 1

      Here are several papers from just one scientist

      The first one is a book. Books are often published without peer review.

      The second one gets no hits on google scholar. I assume it was never published in the scholarly literature.

      The Third one gets no hits on google scholar. I assume it was never published in the scholarly literature.

      The fourth one gets no hits on google scholar. I assume it was never published in the scholarly literature.

      The fifth one appears, but only as two citations, both by the Author. I assume is was never published in the scholarly literature.

      The sixth one appears in Energy & Environment, a publication that some place amongst scholarly journals and some amongst trade journals. In either case, it is a dumping ground for counter-consensus, and even counter-scientific opinion pieces, and is of no note as a peer reviewed publication.

      The seventh was a presentation to the 2009 GSA Annual Meeting. This isn't publication or peer review. And it appears to have been mentioned only three times, twice by the author, and once by Anthony Watts.

      The eight is a presentation to a denialist conference, organised by the Heartland institute. This is not peer reviewed, and the organisation is very interested in only presenting a counter-scientific view for its clients in the fossil fuel industry.

      The ninth appears to be the abstract for a presentation to the AGU conference in fall 2007. Again, this is not peer reviewed, not has it attracted any interest outside the author and Anthony Watts.

      The tenth is another conference paper with no citations except the same publications citing the other conference papers above.

      Now how accurate is that "0% of scholarly papers" claim?

      "Several papers" that were "published" is a bit of a stretch. Being very generous, and calling E&E "publication", we have 10% published peer reviewed literature. Crudely extrapolating to the list of 25, there are 2.5 papers there. Google scholar returns about 589,000 publications to the search term "Global climate change", so these (generous) 2.5 represent. This is about 0.004%, which to the implied accuracy by the number of decimal places given in my "0% of scholarly papers" is 0%.

      Especially in light of the fact that Dr. Easterbrook's climate model (which does NOT base itself on CO2) accurately matches the past

      I think I can see why these papers got no attention then. CO2 is a greenhouse gas. Increasing its concentration will increase the greenhouse effect.

      AND predicted the current 17 year pause in warming,

      17 year pause in the warming? This could be another reason the papers have received no interest.

      There has been warming over the past 17 years.

    17. Re:Facts are there by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

      How do you figure? If you're published, you've survived peer-review. Peer-review isn't about seeing if you conform to the latest theories - it's about ensuring your data is accurate, valid and repeatable (or at least published in its entirety) and your conclusions logical.

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    18. Re:Facts are there by Truth_Quark · · Score: 1

      A whole bunch more:
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L... [wikipedia.org]
      Appears to be about 5%, not 0%.

      Your link gives 38 scientists who claim or believe that GW is not Anthropogenic. That is people, not papers, but for it to be 5% of people, the implication would be that there are only 760 climate scientists. 30,000 is a better estimate. As it is, 38 is 0.1%, or to the implied accuracy of the number of figures given in my 0% estimate, it would be 0%.

    19. Re:Facts are there by Truth_Quark · · Score: 1

      Yet here we are, published papers disputing man-caused climate change.

      Are you counting Energy & Environment as peer reviewed?
      If so, I question that classification. If not, which of those papers are published?

  32. Re:"According to scientists" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "What it typically means you devote your life to pursuing the truth of some small aspect of the universe"

    When did this happen? If your definition is correct, today's scientists are not the same as yesterdays.

  33. No Global Warming by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The weather is changing. Though there is no global warming. C02 talk is a big scam. C02 sinks to the ground. C02 makes the plants grow better which makes more oxygen. It's like a see saw. This hogwash is all political.

  34. Ahhh hahahaha!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Stupid sheeple.

  35. Re:Common Sense says Environmentalists to Blame by caseih · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I agree with your overall sentiment. In many cases it is beyond a joke and misguided attempts to help the environment often hurt it, as is the case with banning the disturbance of brush around homes and communities.

    While you are correct that the banning of DDT was at the time unfounded scientifically--the egg shells seemed to be thinning that year generally and may not have had anything to do with DDT, but alas it was never really researched. However, had DDT continued to be used on the scale that it was, modern research has showed that mosquitoes would have adapted and become resistant in just a couple of years, ending the use of DDT anyway. Put in another way, banning DDT did *not* directly lead to the deaths of millions of people. Perhaps banning DDT was even a benefit, because now it is used by some countries, on a much smaller scale, to a good effect in controlling malaria.

  36. Re:"According to scientists" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    back in the 80s I heard a forest ranger predict that our forest fires would get worse.

    not because of the on coming global winter, but because of the build up of vegetation and dead wood.

    "Someday that fuel is going to catch fire and burn"

    his point was to not stop forest fires. it's natures way of cleaning house.

  37. No-One is a "Denier" by SuperKendall · · Score: 1, Interesting

    First off, I am *not* a climate change denier.

    Of course the climate is changing. The real question is are the changes such that we need to try and implement measures to stop them?

    Articles like this are from the Warmists, wishing to use tools of Fear to scare us into thinking that we must.

    But you yourself note in this aspect a rational reason why we need not be more scared of forest fires because of climate change, when more sensible fire policy would have a far more dramatic impact.

    Now think of all the OTHER times someone tried to scare you with climate change. For each of those times there was a person like yourself pointing out why the fear was irrational ad unwarranted.

    Far from being a "denier", those trying to counteract acts of raw fear mongering are helping to participate in REAL science, deciding what is actually a problem from climate change and what is not. To refer to the mere act of questioning as "denial" is a form of propaganda, and going forward I hope you and others when you head the rem "denier" used will use your own experience where to question the people who feel the need to use such a dismissive term against ideological opponents...

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:No-One is a "Denier" by geekoid · · Score: 1

      Of course it's denial, the science is in, AGW is real. CO2 is increasing beyond what can be captured, and it's trapping more energy in the lower atmosphere.

      "The real question is are the changes such that we need to try and implement measures to stop them?"
      well, since once we get past abut 1000 PPM, the world won't be habitable by humans in any meaningful way, I would say yes.
      And no, that's not alarmist, that's reality.

      AGW is a fact. It's been know that CO2 traps energy for well over 100 years.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    2. Re:No-One is a "Denier" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow. How much are you getting paid to post shiite like that?

    3. Re:No-One is a "Denier" by Reziac · · Score: 1

      Substitute "heretic" for "denier", and all is explained.

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    4. Re:No-One is a "Denier" by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

      How much to you get paid to make people think others are?

      Weak sauce, weak sauce. It says a lot that your kind have to resort to crawling in under an AC post in order to avoid detection.

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  38. unlikely by stenvar · · Score: 1

    The reasoning behind this "expert's" opinion seems to be that higher temperatures lead to more drought and thereby to more wildfires. But that's far from certain:

    http://journals.ametsoc.org/do...

  39. Long-term pattern... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You want a long-term pattern?

    Here's one.

    That's a plot of CO2 concentration in the Earth's atmosphere over the past 1/2 a BILLION years. Not 10,000. Not 300. Half a fucking billion.

    If you have the balls to look at that, you'll see today's concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere - about 400 ppm, is at the EXTREME LOW END of where it's been over the past 1/2 a billion years - where it's ranged from 200 ppm to a full FUCKING 6,000 ppm. NB that the highest concentrations of CO2 predate SUVs.

    In geological time frames, we're now at the very bottom of the range CO2 fluctuates over - naturally.

    And guess what? When there was 6,000 ppm CO2 in the Earth's atmosphere, Earth DIDN'T turn into a copy of Venus - life went on just fine, thank you.

    1. Re:Long-term pattern... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thanks for the link

    2. Re:Long-term pattern... by Eunuchswear · · Score: 1

      And guess what? When there was 6,000 ppm CO2 in the Earth's atmosphere, Earth DIDN'T turn into a copy of Venus - life went on just fine, thank you.

      The Devonian? That's your idea of what the world should be like?

      No thanks. I've been to Devon.

      (He, look at that CO2 drop in the Carboniferous. Wonder where it was all going.)

      --
      Watch this Heartland Institute video
    3. Re:Long-term pattern... by sycodon · · Score: 1

      Wait...500 hundred million years?

      Isn't that Cherry Picking? :-)

      --
      When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
  40. Hadley cells by TapeCutter · · Score: 1

    But actually overall it would mean more moisture in the system, not less...

    Exactly, and you know what, water vapor in the atmosphere has been steadily rising since ~1980. However just because there is an increase of water vapor on a global scale does not mean droughts will not become more common on a regional scale. More rain in the tropics actually implies the deserts to on either side of the tropics will widen and become drier. Yes it's "counter intuitive", but not nearly as hard to wrap your head around as (say) quantum mechanics. Google "Hadley cells" for a more technical explanation as to "why", it's quite interesting to read about and not hard to understand. Basically, the tropics expand, the equatorial deserts expand and move pole-wards, the poles melt.

    --
    And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
  41. Arson by krautcanman · · Score: 1

    Does it count as climate change-related when these fires are starting due to human activity? It seems part of the problem is that one fire starts, either by accident or on purpose, and then several more pop up as fire bugs start lighting fires all over (as was the case in San Diego). FD resources get strained and it just takes longer to put them out because efforts are spread thin. My guess is that large fires would be just as infrequent if you removed us from the equation.

    1. Re:Arson by dave420 · · Score: 1

      Someone had the exact same thought as you. They looked into it, and it turns out that's not the case. Read the papers on this subject and you'd know. Reacting to an article you don't like the sound of, and assuming the science it's talking about is just as dodgy is not doing you any favours.

  42. El Nino is coming; El Nino is coming! by BoRegardless · · Score: 1

    We haven't had a "large dump" on California since 1969! 2+ years of a lack of sunspots brought the US a very hard winter.

    The Eastern Pacific bulge of hot water on the equator looks like it might spawn another "Pineapple Express".

    Some geophysists say the sediment record shows that a mega-dump like occurred in 1862 in CA & OR could dump 11 feet of water on CA in about a month.

    Will that be "climate change", given that it happens every 40 or 160 years on known cycles?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P...

    1. Re:El Nino is coming; El Nino is coming! by riverat1 · · Score: 1

      Yes, with the El Nino chances are the California drought will be broken next winter. That doesn't do them much good for the next 5 months.

    2. Re:El Nino is coming; El Nino is coming! by Eunuchswear · · Score: 1

      Will that be "climate change", given that it happens every 40 or 160 years on known cycles?

      El Nino doesn't happen on "known cycles" and can't change the climate - El Nino is weather, it merely moves heat from one part of the earth to another.

      --
      Watch this Heartland Institute video
    3. Re:El Nino is coming; El Nino is coming! by geekoid · · Score: 1

      It happens every year, and it's energy output is going up.

      I have no clue why you think an annual event doesn't happen in known cycles.
      Maybe you're stupid?

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    4. Re:El Nino is coming; El Nino is coming! by Eunuchswear · · Score: 1

      It happens every year, and it's energy output is going up.

      I have no clue why you think an annual event doesn't happen in known cycles.
      Maybe you're stupid?

      El Nino happens "every year"?

      --
      Watch this Heartland Institute video
    5. Re:El Nino is coming; El Nino is coming! by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      For values of "every" meaning "every 2 to 5 years, irregularly".

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
    6. Re:El Nino is coming; El Nino is coming! by Eunuchswear · · Score: 1

      Yes, I know that. geekoid said:

      It happens every year, and it's energy output is going up.

      I have no clue why you think an annual event doesn't happen in known cycles.
      Maybe you're stupid?

      Maybe he's stupid?

      --
      Watch this Heartland Institute video
  43. Extream weather by stkpogo · · Score: 1

    It's just getting started / warming up.

  44. WildFires = Global Warming - Epic Fail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just not so !

    Psst. The Earth is more than 10,000 years old !

    Most "Anthropocene Global Warmers" or "Anthropoccene Climate Changers" become violent when presented solid evidence that Earth is more than 10,000 years old.

    Violence (Sexual) is their "Scientific" reaction to facts.

    Parade of the Examples: James E. Hansen, Michael E. Mann, Kevin Trenberth (I just name a few of the sexual predator perverts in "Climate Science").

    Ha ha.

  45. Yes, yes it is. by drinkypoo · · Score: 2, Interesting

    First of all, it's "climate change" now and not "global warming"... some spots are having much cooler temperatures instead.

    It's still global warming, in spite of republican efforts to relabel it climate change. Stop prevaricating.

    Secondly, droughts happen.

    Red herring. That's totally orthogonal to this point. Stop prevaricating. Also, the current drought is unusual even in Northern California, where the water comes from. You didn't even bother to mention that, most likely because it's inconvenient to your point. Stop prevaricating.

    unless you've just moved to San Diego, you're quite aware of the 2003 and 2007 fires. These were (also) not the result of global warming.

    This is about global warming making wildfires more likely and worse, not about global warming making wildfires possible. Stop prevaricating.

    Fourthly, there's good reason to believe that at least some of the ones this week were started by (d-bag) arsonists.

    See last point. Stop prevaricating.

    It's over-broad statements like this from "scientists" that give credence to the assertion that climate scientists are thinking with the social policy side of their brains instead of the factual side.

    No, it's stupid shit like you just posted that lets stupid people feel smug about stupid decisions even though they have nothing to be smug about.

    /signed
    Native San Diegan; MRC/former CERT member; non-scientist.

    I personally am in favor of the scientific process. You might consider accepting it as well.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    1. Re:Yes, yes it is. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      in spite of republican efforts to relabel it climate change

      Haha. Where's the "-1 Clueless" mod?

  46. Re:Common Sense says Environmentalists to Blame by dryeo · · Score: 2, Informative

    When you throw out bullshit like that DDT was banned for treating malaria mosquitoes why should we listen to you and the fact that by spreading the bullshit that DDT was banned for malaria really makes you wonder about the education of the moderators.
    Look it up, DDT was not banned for malaria, it just became less useful as the mosquitoes were evolving to like DDT.

    --
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
  47. riiiight by CAIMLAS · · Score: 1

    Riiiight. So this has absolutely nothing at all to do with progressively worse nonmanagement of national forests over the past 30 years, opting instead to wait for a really big fire to clear burn areas?

    Nice dogmatic and unfounded supposition, warmers.

    --
    ~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
  48. Re:"Global Warming" by riverat1 · · Score: 1

    It doesn't matter what you call it. What matters is how it physically affects the world we live in.

  49. Re:"According to scientists" by MrBigInThePants · · Score: 1

    It works because the universe is a very big place with a lot of complexity.

  50. More likely policy than climate by RogueWarrior65 · · Score: 1

    Sorry, but policy has much more to do with it. The prevention of regular logging operations due to bogus environmentalist claims has a great deal to do with it. National forests that currently have 250 trees per acre used to have around 50 per acre only a few decades ago which keeps fire from spreading and the forest healthier. There are those who think we shouldn't remove dead trees because the birds won't be able to eat the bark beetles (Yes, this B.S. was on NPR). The only problem with that theory is that the bark beetles don't inhabit dead trees. They inhabit live ones until they kill the tree and leave the tree when it dies. As a matter of interest, the Wallow Fire in Arizona wiped out 841 square miles. That will take generations before it returns to a healthy state. That fire also wiped out the bulk of the spotted owl population. The anti-loggers end up torching that which they are trying to save.

    1. Re:More likely policy than climate by marcgvky · · Score: 1

      Must agree. Much of the destruction is avoidable by good forestry practice and controlled burns. But the environmental weenies will sue you and keep you in court; long enough for everyones homes and businesses to be burned out. Then they will sue you again, to block your ability to rebuild: which is their ultimate goal.

  51. Recent wildfire engulfs Hazelwood mine for 45 days by EmilyMainzer · · Score: 0

    A recent wildfire in Victoria spread to the Hazelwood open-pit coal mine , setting ablaze two disused coal faces and prompting a 45-day firefighting effort. Photographs released by Victoria's Country Fire Authority show the terrible power and persistence of coal seam fires, which in some cases can burn for decades.

  52. Re:"According to scientists" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Maybe, I wonder if there were epicycle experts back in the day saying the same thing though.

  53. Swamped by environmentalist interference. by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ... according to the article there has been a three-decade pattern of fires getting worse in the West:

    And the reason for that is well known, and has nothing to do with global warming.

    It is caused by environmentalist interference in land management. The major factors are;
      - Fuel load: Logging is stopped, or delayed for decades by lawsuits, even of diseased and fallen trees, which are left to rot. Brush clearing, deemed "unnatural", is also stopped. LOTS of little trees and weeds grow up between the big trees. When a fire finally starts, it soreads rapidly and burns big and hot, and is very hard to control. The hot burning sterillizes the ground, killing many types of seeds that would otherwise have fueled a post-fire recovery.
      - Access restriction: Loggers and other visitors to the area are the main source of reports of fires when they're still tiny. With logging stopped and most recreational uses banned the woods are essentially deserted. A fire that would have been spotted in tens of minutes might have as much as days to grow before it is discovered. Once it IS discovered, the lack of roads and lack of clearng of those paths still there impedes fire-fighting: Regular equipment, or even four-wheel-drive SUV-based, fire equipment can't access much of the area, and must leave those areas it can access early, to avoid being trapped.

    I think it's ludicrous that the blame for the anthropogenic forest fire severity increase is being deflected from the policies and policy-makers that caused it and simultaneously being used as additional "evidence" for global warming. It's tactics like this that cause people to distrust global warming claims.

    --
    Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
    1. Re:Swamped by environmentalist interference. by pspahn · · Score: 2

      There is a larger picture than you are seeing. Consider the Mountain Pine Beetle (MPB) and this interesting bit from Colorado State University:

      Extreme cold temperatures also can reduce MPB populations. For winter mortality to be a significant factor, a severe freeze is necessary while the insect is in its most vulnerable stage; i.e., in the fall before the larvae have metabolized glycerols, or in late spring when the insect is molting into the pupal stage. For freezing temperatures to affect a large number of larvae during the middle of winter, temperatures of at least 30 degrees below zero (Fahrenheit) must be sustained for at least five days.

      Yes, these trees are susceptible to MPB because of the reason you state (over crowding, more stressed, etc). I don't disagree with that. But you cannot overlook the fact that winters simply haven't been killing these bugs the way that has been done in the past. Less frequent cold snaps means more beetles able to kill more trees that are already stressed which leads to a more devastating outbreak and massive increases in fuel loads in the forest. How is that not an after effect of a warming climate?

      --
      Someone flopped a steamer in the gene pool.
    2. Re:Swamped by environmentalist interference. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, except for this last one. And the one before that.

      Geeze.

    3. Re:Swamped by environmentalist interference. by Reziac · · Score: 1

      But most of the areas worst affected by pine beetles have NEVER had winters with regular stretches at -30 degrees. Such extended low temps are historically confined primarily to high altitude and east of the Continental Divide. Even here in Montana, west of the Divide seldom sees extreme cold (in fact, some areas seldom dip below zero, and never have).

      Forests evolved to be burned regularly. As Smokey the Bear halted most wildfires, logging replaced the regular clearing and thinning formerly handled by fire. But now we have neither fires nor logging. In SoCal forests, there are now five times as many trees as the available water can handle even in non-drought years, so they're ALL stressed. If it weren't pine beetles, it would be some other opportunistic pest.

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
  54. No, no it's not. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Global warming is not climate change. Global warming is the cause, climate change is the effect.

  55. Re:Common Sense says Environmentalists to Blame by wiredlogic · · Score: 1

    DDT isn't banned around the world and it is still widely used to fumigate villages on a limited scale.

    --
    I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
  56. They were "flying car" articles by dbIII · · Score: 1

    There were some idiot future prediction cooling articles to provide "balance" after reports or warming were published. I'll go with the scientific community instead of whoever picked a bait cover article for TIME once in the 70's any day.

  57. Real causes of SoCal wildfires by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Southern California gets wildfires in the spring and the fall due to the prevalence of strong Santa Ana winds (hot dry winds blowing from the deserts, over the mountains, toward the sea) and, given that the region is essentially an irrigated desert there's ALWAYS material ready and willing to burn. Any time a fire starts in the brush or in a canyon for ANY reason it will naturally become a massive wildfire unless fire fighters get it out in a hurry while it's still small

    Some wild fires are started by power lines knocked-down by strong Santa Ana winds. Many are caused by illegal alien migrant workers who camp-out in some of the brush-filled canyons and use small fires to cook or keep warm on cold nights (one body has been found in the remains of such a campsite in the canyon where one of the current fires began). Some are started by morons throwing cigarette butts out of cars. Occasionally some hunter causes one. Many are either directly caused by federal land management activity or made worse by federal policies. And then, of course, one should never underestimate the destructive power of a pair of stupid teenage males who clearly have no valid reason to live.

    Nowhere in that list was "global warming". In fact, there were some really bad fires in the 1960s that were only matched, NOT in the 70's or 80's or 90's but in 2012. When you consider that Southern California has been getting more and more-populated and developed decade-by-decade, it should NOT surprise if the number if fires detected (with more people around, and more arsonists present) and fought (with more property at risk) goes up - indeed the trendline for value of property should also go up (because more developed property, with higher value, is threatened when more land is developed and populated). Lining-up such fire data with climate data will easily provide a correlation-causality illusion. Of course, such false relationships are the sort of propaganda no self-respectingAGW alarmist can resist: When the "weather" seems severe it's proof of global warming, but when the "weather" is cold or fails to produce the predicted hurricanes and tornadoes, these uber-intellectual titans insist that "only an idiot" would conflate "weather" with "climate" - and they think the general public is too stupid to spot the completely dishonest and hypocritical "spin"...

    Note for the future: When Katrina hit and Al Gore was running around pushing his book and film, he and his friends were pointing to a rise in hurricanes and tornadoes as evidence for AGW - but we are (and have been for severl years) experiencing a record low-level of such activity (and A.G. and his friends are notably quiet about these "weather" incidents). It is inevitable that hurricaine and tornado activity will rise in the future - when it does, look for Al and his compatriots to once again start using "weather" as "proof" of their "climate" theories. Given that we continue to build more-valuable things in more desireable (and riskier) locations, we can predict that the monetary damage caused by those future weather events will go up and up too, which will no-doubt make it into some dramatic (and intentionally misleading) graphs...

  58. Latest press report alarmism by dbIII · · Score: 1

    News just in! Reporters will comment on anyhing they think is related to the topic of the day.

  59. Preventive burns? by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

    Isn't it a good idea to perform preventive burns to limit the amount of available fuel that can burn?

    --
    If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
  60. Re:"According to scientists" by Barsteward · · Score: 1

    " it's natures way of cleaning house." - as long as its not your house

    --
    "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
  61. Re:"According to scientists" by MrBigInThePants · · Score: 1

    People tend to compartmentalise the world and make it out to be smaller than it is.

    Even if you are a scientist straddling several areas this is STILL a small part of the whole.

    Also...how the hell is my comment a troll?!

  62. hahaha trollmodfail by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    "Troll" means you don't believe what you're saying. "Flamebait", which also isn't what this comment was, is when you believe what you're saying but you say it deliberately inflammatorily. The comment I replied to is a troll. HTH, corrupt moderators.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  63. global warming? by skoony · · Score: 0

    will someone straighten this out for me. am i a global warming denier,or climate change denier? can i be both? that would be neat.

  64. Only One Answer by JimSadler · · Score: 1

    Local governments seem to universally have an answer for areas at risk. Simply issue tons of new building permits. Got a huge fire problem? Isn't it obvious? You simply need tens of thousands of new homes in the hot spots. Got a beach that is vanishing? What the heck, just bang out some really expensive homes on those beaches or maybe put a nuclear reactor on that beach. they work under water don't they? Got a really dangerous, active earthquake zone? Move your high tech companies smack dab onto the fault line. That way when the earth shakes all those companies can crumble and bankrupt the nation and probably touch off a world wide depression. Do you have sink holes swallowing homes? That proves you need a lot more homes on the spot. That way they can suck even more water out of the ground causing more sink holes. And why waste the sales potential of homes that have a view of lava flowing down the side of a volcano. They should be multi million dollar homes every time. That way we can get rid of foolish rich people, bankrupt insurance companies which tend to own our banks, and set of an economioc holocaust. It's all about growth. More building permits, more growth, more pollution, more tragedies, hell it's the American way.

  65. So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is where the YouTube commentators spend their free time?

  66. willful ignorance or just the plain flavor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In California there is this thing called El Nino which is a multiyear cycle of drought/temperature shifts (a natural shift of warm ocean currents) that has been known as long as man has been there (long before the fake Manmade Global Warming fraud even existed).

    So just more warmist attempts to pass their socialism by their constant lies - logic reason and facts dont intersect with these wasters and whiners

  67. One of the causes? by gmclapp · · Score: 1

    Maybe I'm too late commenting and this isn't going to get any attention, but I was under the impression through reading articles about the situation that wildfires worsening in California is mainly due to the fact that we suppress what would ordinarily be small routine burns that need to happen to keep forests healthy. By suppressing these, the buildup of undergrowth makes the ones we can't control much worse.

    I'm not saying global warming couldn't be one of the factors contributing to worsening conditions, but I don't think it can shoulder the lion's share of the blame.

    --
    Common Sense (+1)
  68. The stupidity goes on... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wow. The "global warming" that isn't occurring is making wildfires worse. What's next?

  69. LOL by p51d007 · · Score: 1

    Yeah, these are some of the same scientist that in the 70's predicted a mini ice age. Some of the same people that say eat oat bran, don't eat oat bran, eat fish oil, don't eat fish oil. It's all agenda driven. You look at the places having "wild fires" (we use to call them brush or forest fires), a LOT of the people having problems, are in areas that were either desserts, waste lands, or areas that always had this problem, and since "we've" moved in, planted a lot of vegetation, or areas where "naturalist" won't let them clean the underbrush out, they have problems with fires! Go figure! Also, didn't I read where someone started one of these out in California recently? How did man made global warming cause that?

  70. Re: Atmospheric CO2 by hoboroadie · · Score: 1

    Carbonic acid is breaking down the Karst. This is not new, but the rate of disintegration is probably increasing.
    This is another feature of the current Anthropogenic Carbon Release event.

    --
    They feared that it could be used to suppress protest or support unpopular rule.
  71. The only thing Ovepeck has made clear... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...is that this is yet another case of conjecture.

  72. Humans have the attention span of a gnat. by BravoZuluM · · Score: 1

    Wildfires have been with us for a long time.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    Some of the largest occurred in the 1800's when we didn't have the means to fight them. But politicians today want more money so they claim the fires are getting worse. Funny, I remember a few California wildfires in the 70s that were much worse than the San Diego fires we just had. Santa Ana winds are just something that Southern California locals have been dealing with for a VERY long time. The problem for San Diego is the arsonists. Three of them were just arrested. Another problem is aging transformers. We have had a number of the explode here recently and they typically start fires. The secondary transformer across for my mother's house is seriously rusted and it's only a matter of time. California's biggest threats is state insolvency and our power infrastructure. Sacramento would rather spend it on the booty train, impose fire fees and raise taxes.

    1. Re:Humans have the attention span of a gnat. by geekoid · · Score: 1

      You remember a few wild fires that are a little worse then the ones we are having more frequently.

      You know what else they had in the 70's? fire seasons that ended. Last years fire season never ended.

      1940s - 3 wildfires.
      1950s -6 wildfires
      1960s - 6 wildfires
      1970s - 8 wildfire
      1980s - 9 wildfires.
      1990s - 13 wildfires
      2000s - 19 wildfires
      2010 - 13 wildfires and we are only half way through the year. 2013 'fire season' did not end.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    2. Re:Humans have the attention span of a gnat. by Reziac · · Score: 1

      Map those fires across time and tell me what you see.

      I see a marked shift west and south, becoming more pronounced the closer we are to the present, with a recent concentration on the Left Coast.

      From this I conclude that wildfires are a consequence of the migration of treehuggers and other clueless envirotwats.

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
  73. ABC propaganda machine for the Obama regime by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It is interesting how political hacktivists & croonie capitalists are helping with the official propaganda.
    They do not talk to real scientists that could explain these phenomenons with the "El Nino" & "La Nina" currents.
    They do not talk to geologists who have studied our past cold & warm periods through millenia.
    Taking the word of the same loonies that cried wolf during the Reagan years, who are now pseudo-scientists with high powered political friends, & calling for "consensus" is not science (in the Descartes way).
    #manmadeglobalwarmingdoesnotexist

  74. Re:"Global Warming" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ok, let.s call it bullcrap then.

  75. Faculty Club need work! Quick, get a GW grant! by IndieVoter · · Score: 0

    GW 'researchers' are getting further out there in the quest for Mo' Money. Got to feed that University pig trough. Mo' Money! The faculty swimming pool pump needs to be repaired.... better get another GW grant.

  76. BS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now every single event of bad weather or other disaster is the result of mankind burning fossil fuels. If CO2 is a pollutant, than Obama needs to stop flying around in Air Force One.

  77. ENSO/PDO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The dry conditions in California can be traced back to a repeating pattern linked to the the ENSO/PDO cycles. Dr Easterbrook and Bob Tisdale (Who Turned on the Heat at http://bobtisdale.wordpress.com/) . Give their stuff a read sometimes and it is obvious the drought cycle is tied to ENSO/PDO. What that means for us now is that we will have another 20-30 years before the ENSO cycle is back to sending rain to California.

    It is a sine wave of about 60 years. 30 positive (wet) and 30 negative (dry).

    By the way all scientific theories require predictions. So to all who think that CO2 controls the climate I ask the following question:

    How long with rising CO2 and flat or falling temperatures before you admit CO2 does not control the climate? 20 years? 30? 50? Never?

    For some accurate predictions that have withstood the test of time check out Dr Libby's prediction from the 1970s (3+ decades of accuracy), Dr Easterbrook's (12 years), Dr Abdussamatov (8 years). They all have correctly called for a cooling period of varying depths and lengths. So far they have been correct and the IPCC models wrong.

  78. Re: Shills on both sides by presidenteloco · · Score: 0

    As long as we realize that there's well over 1000x more money backing the "fossil fuels don't cause global warming" shills as those, if any, promoting the scientific view.

    And that's only direct revenues to fossil fuel industry, compared to scientific climate research funding. It doesn't even include the monetary value of industries currently optimized to depend heavily on fossil fuel.
    Essentially, those with a stake in 2/3 of all kinds of economic activity have an incentive to lie and say everything is fine.

    Those with most credibility are those who speak AGAINST their own short term interest. I benefit from the fossil fuel economy, I hypocritically use the products of it, but I still insist that we have to suck it up and change it radically starting yesterday. I'll take what disadvantage comes, because I know our current path is incredibly dumb, incredibly dangerous, an incredibly selfish FU to all future generations. It's so indefensible that people just deny it like it was a cancer diagnosis. LA LA LA LA can't hear you. My whole lifestyle is based on a completely indefensible way of doing things? Don't want to hear it. LA LA LA LA.

    --

    Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
  79. Re:latest weather event alarmism by geekoid · · Score: 1

    ""climate change will make hurricanes worse and worse!", they said in a year with bad hurricanes"
    and they have.

    ""climate change will make flooding worse and worse!", they said in a year with bad floods"
    and they have.

    ""climate change will make snowstorms worse and worse", they said in a year with bad snow storms"
    and they have.

    ""climate change will make wildfires worse and worse!", they said in a year with bad wildfires"
    and they have.

    Maybe you should learn to be able to think about complex things and stop reading Black and White fairy tales?

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  80. the good news however is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Where is the story saying we are experiencing fewer tornados and hurricanes in the US? Why isn't that good news being shared or linked to global warming?

  81. Blame the arsonists not humanity by hardwarefreak · · Score: 1

    Arsonists and idiots tossing cigarette butts start the majority of the wildfires in the West each year. But instead of blaming them, practitioners of the religion of Catastrophic Man Made Global Warming blame all of humanity for burning fossil fuels. Continuous claims of this nature make the lot of them modern day Chicken Littles (Henny Penny). If they have a dire need to blame someone other than those directly responsible, they need only look into the mirror. The liberal Western states have been sucking all of the water out of the mountains for decades for their backyard pools and lawns, preventing natural run off. This is what turns the grasslands into gasoline. Not global warming.

  82. bullshit... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    more bullshit.

  83. global warming and fire? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    more like the radical environmentalists that won't let tree companies cut down the trees they have deemed to be a hazard for wild fires.
    see, tree companies spend millions of dollars figuring out how to NOT impact the wildlife.
    They do this with success because they actually understand the needs of the environment.
    The truth is not cutting down some trees will help spread wild fires. These companies dump
    millions into figuring out which ones to cut down and which to leave up and where to plant the new trees as to not impact the environment.
    Ever wonder why keystone pipeline is being delayed until after november? aside from election reasons,
    it's so a democrat senators friend can build a similar pipeline running right next to it.
    A vote for progressive is a vote for collectivism. A vote for a democrat is to vote for someone to feed you, instead of learning how to feed yourself.
    Stupid libtards. Please, get over your megalomaniacal outlook on life.

  84. blame the budget-cutters by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Clearing underbrush isn't illegal. The best way to do it is with controlled burns. The politicians who are most to blame for underbrush buildup, are those that cut the budget of the National Forest Service and the National Parks Service.

  85. Re:latest weather event alarmism by rubycodez · · Score: 1

    wrong, hurricanes are not getting worse and worse. In fact, we are having hurricane seasons with less than average activity.

    no evidence of flooding or drought worse than historically normal.

    no evidence whatsoever that wildfires are any worse than normal, in fact the only issue causing big wildfires is man's interference preventing the frequent small ones.

    maybe you should develop some critical thinking skills, and read some history. we have cycles of these events, that is all. but like most internet children, you have the attention span of a gnat