The wildfires are happening for multiple reasons not just global warming. Our forests literally evolved to burn down and we have been stopping that for decades. Just building up deadfall and dead trees throw in drier weather and boom. We should have been doing controlled burns. And yes I know climate change is having an effect on the fires but it is not the only reason we are here.
We should be putting all of the money towards fire smarting around communities, and then fighting fires that threaten communities.
Thin the forests for a few hundred meters around each community every 10 years, remove the deadfall, cut low hanging branches.
Let fires burn in the wilderness until it gets within a certain distance and then go full throttle to stop it from hitting any infrastructure, even it it means just letting it burn around the community.
I’m not even sure if controled burns are the best option long term, it still releases a ton of carbon and particulate matter. It might be better to make artificial peat lands and sink organic materials into them, acting as a carbon sink. Or maybe even remove the deadfall for other purposes.
Wild fires are a sign of a healthy forest. It burns all of the brush allowing new growth. Many plant species have evolved for their lifecycle to require being exposed to fires to germinate.
Always have been. The difference is that more severe wildfires happen more frequently. The 6th IPCC report from 2021 (we are now on the 7th and the 8th is being prepared) had this nice figure (page 18) that showed this for extreme temperatures, floods and droughts:
If you don’t immediately understand what this means, ask your insurance broker.
I’m not arguing against you but it does scan that if years of deadfall have been accumulating there would be more severe fires more frequently than if shit was left alone.
Sure, but I would reverse the order. Things like accumulating deadfall, droughts, lumber monocultures can be related to the start and maintainance of fires. Without climate change these would happen at a certain rate. Climate change accelerates and intensifies the effects of all of it. Like, people get sick from all sorts of things, but if you’re also an overweight smoker that doesn’t exercise, each time you get sick is going to be more of a nail-biter than if you were in general good health. Like, yes, the street meat you just ate can’t be good for you, but if you were generally healthy it wouldn’t be as much of a danger of being catastrophic.
Yet fossil fuel infrastructure is dubbed “nation building projects” by the government.
The wildfires are happening for multiple reasons not just global warming. Our forests literally evolved to burn down and we have been stopping that for decades. Just building up deadfall and dead trees throw in drier weather and boom. We should have been doing controlled burns. And yes I know climate change is having an effect on the fires but it is not the only reason we are here.
We should be putting all of the money towards fire smarting around communities, and then fighting fires that threaten communities.
Thin the forests for a few hundred meters around each community every 10 years, remove the deadfall, cut low hanging branches.
Let fires burn in the wilderness until it gets within a certain distance and then go full throttle to stop it from hitting any infrastructure, even it it means just letting it burn around the community.
I’m not even sure if controled burns are the best option long term, it still releases a ton of carbon and particulate matter. It might be better to make artificial peat lands and sink organic materials into them, acting as a carbon sink. Or maybe even remove the deadfall for other purposes.
Wild fires are a sign of a healthy forest. It burns all of the brush allowing new growth. Many plant species have evolved for their lifecycle to require being exposed to fires to germinate.
Always have been. The difference is that more severe wildfires happen more frequently. The 6th IPCC report from 2021 (we are now on the 7th and the 8th is being prepared) had this nice figure (page 18) that showed this for extreme temperatures, floods and droughts:
If you don’t immediately understand what this means, ask your insurance broker.
I’m not arguing against you but it does scan that if years of deadfall have been accumulating there would be more severe fires more frequently than if shit was left alone.
Doesn’t mean climate change isn’t contributing.
Sure, but I would reverse the order. Things like accumulating deadfall, droughts, lumber monocultures can be related to the start and maintainance of fires. Without climate change these would happen at a certain rate. Climate change accelerates and intensifies the effects of all of it. Like, people get sick from all sorts of things, but if you’re also an overweight smoker that doesn’t exercise, each time you get sick is going to be more of a nail-biter than if you were in general good health. Like, yes, the street meat you just ate can’t be good for you, but if you were generally healthy it wouldn’t be as much of a danger of being catastrophic.
No argument from me.