Linking Global Warming to Forest Fires

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Parsing the exact role a changing climate played in the historic burns can be challenging, especially in Western forests overstocked with woody kindling due to decades of fire suppression and a relatively hands-off forest management policy. But, experts agreed, there is clear evidence that a warmer, drier climate played a central role.

“We do see a climate change signal in the fire seasons we’re having,” said Jennifer Jones, a public affairs specialist with the Forest Service’s office of fire and aviation management. “It’s climate change, it’s hazardous fuel buildup, it’s nonnative species invasions, it’s insect infestations. Climate change is part of that, but in any given season, it’s impossible to know how much.”

More than 10.1 million acres of U.S. forests—private, state and federal—were scorched last year, marking 2015 as the most extensive and expensive fire season on record, according to numbers released Wednesday by the Forest Service. The agency was forced to “borrow” three times from non-firefighting funds to pay for fire suppression. The agency reported spending more than $2.6 billion, or 52 percent of its budget, on firefighting efforts in 2015 (Greenwire, Jan. 7).

A little more than half of those acres, 5.1 million, burned in Alaska. As it has for the past few years, fire season came early to the Last Frontier.

What little snow did fall melted away quickly when warmer-than-average temperatures hit the state in March and April, said Tim Mowry, public information officer for the Alaska Division of Forestry. A deluge of lightning strikes helped ignite hundreds of fires over the course of the dry summer months.

“Our fire seasons have been starting earlier and lasting longer, and we’ve tended to have bigger fire seasons and more acreages burned,” he said. A few years ago, the Division of Forestry moved up the beginning of fire season from May 1 to April 1 in acknowledgement of the longer fire season.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/global-warming-helped-exacerbate-biggest-year-ever-for-u-s-wildfires/

Quantifiable annual impact.

[boutons_deux]

The Anthropocene: Hard evidence for a human-driven Earth

The evidence for a new geological epoch which marks the impact of human activity on Earth is now overwhelming according to a recent paper by an international group of geoscientists.

The Anthropocene, which is argued to start in the mid-20th Century, is marked by the spread of materials such as aluminium, concrete, plastic, fly ash and fallout from nuclear testing across the planet, coincident with elevated greenhouse gas emissions and unprecedented trans-global species invasions.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160107151738.htm

[CosmicCowboy]

Wildfires are healthy for the forest. Back in the 90's the forest service realized that the century old tradition of fighting every fire (to save timber for harvest) was bad for the forest and more harmful for the forest in the long run. The reason the Forest Service service spent so much last year on fighting fires is that they inexplicably reversed their policy last spring to go back to fighting all fires as soon as they started even if they were in wilderness areas.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

And then there is the actuarial risk calculations that expand the risk season an extra month and recalculate the economic costs.

Forest fires are not the end of the world as the land will regrow. When it burns down your house that is a different matter. Anyone living in the hill country is also at increased risk. That fire out at Camp Bullis a few years ago was barely contained. El nino has caused a lot of moisture in the gulf stream but the rainy period will end and we will have more acute droughts.

[Wild Cobra]

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/global-warming-helped-exacerbate-biggest-year-ever-for-u-s-wildfires/

Quantifiable annual impact.
Fuzzy's repeating the misleading Charlatans again...

http://www.fs.fed.us/ne/delaware/biotrends/trends33.JPG (http://www.fs.fed.us/ne/delaware/biotrends/trends_forests.html)

10.1 million acres is rather small compared to the the over 50 million on the graph.

Yes, it's the most expensive due to inflation, and damages of private property where people build houses where they didn't use to.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Fuzzy's repeating the misleading Charlatans again...

http://www.fs.fed.us/ne/delaware/biotrends/trends33.JPG (http://www.fs.fed.us/ne/delaware/biotrends/trends_forests.html)

10.1 million acres is rather small compared to the the over 50 million on the graph.

Yes, it's the most expensive due to inflation, and damages of private property where people build houses where they didn't use to.

:lol that chart ends over 12 years ago.
:lol SciAm are charlatans
:lol chart caption:


Trends in wild forest fires show that, although 2000 was the major fire year since the 1950s, there were many more acres burned per year in years preceding Smoky Bear.


50 years of effective suppression has put us in difficult situation now.

That, combined with many more humans living in the wildland interface, causes problems.

Your link talks about how the risk to humans is increasing as well due to development and is overall discussing the impact of their smoky the bear campaign up through 15 years ago. Try some more google sophistry, dimwit.

It's like you pulling out that 1980s trash before miniaturization when discussing satellites or parroting takes on solar activity from a decade ago and pretending like that hadn't been hashed out or arrived to a different conclusion than your nonsense. Your "exoneration of CO2" was another hit of yours. Desperately trying to explain simple circuit dynamics or topology concepts like linearity, natural growth and propagation.

Watching you try and describe how EM is absorbed by the ocean and just sketching over fluid dynamics with a hopeful wave was great. El Nino is not a poorly understood concept. Recall the PSU models I showed you. That was when I started calling you Dr EZ bake.

More recently, we have you trying to model climate with an annual sample rate that completely removed seasonal effect. More fumbling around with no notion of shape, model or anything. You dimwitted logic was that if it worked for CO2 then it must be the same for the TIR. I must repeat yearly samples is so dimwitted as to be hilarious.

I'm considering creating a 'stupid shit WC says compendium" thread for you. We can use the various graphs and idiocies you've said over the years. I'll reprise ocean is a soda, fly wheel, "I'm not racist but I don't like most black people."

I'll invite other people to participate and they can share their stories too. Flaglot stalking and minion behaviorism. It'll be fun.

[Wild Cobra]

I'm considering creating a 'stupid shit WC says compendium" thread for you. We can use the various graphs and idiocies you've said over the years. I'll reprise ocean is a soda, fly wheel, "I'm not racist but I don't like most black people."


Go for it.

You will only be exposing your udder stupidity.

intelligent people see through your shit. I would love to see how many here are really almost as stupid as you.

Go for it. It will be like a poll of people saying "yes, I'm as stupid as Fuzzy."

[SnakeBoy]

And then there is the actuarial risk calculations that expand the risk season an extra month and recalculate the economic costs.

Forest fires are not the end of the world as the land will regrow. When it burns down your house that is a different matter. Anyone living in the hill country is also at increased risk. That fire out at Camp Bullis a few years ago was barely contained. El nino has caused a lot of moisture in the gulf stream but the rainy period will end and we will have more acute droughts.

lol now that's some stupid shit.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

lol now that's some stupid shit.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Firefighters-contain-Camp-Bullis-area-fire-2159647.php


About a dozen area fire departments fought a rekindled grass fire that prompted evacuations Wednesday afternoon in Fair Oaks Ranch. By nightfall, officials said residents were to be allowed back.

It was the third day in a row of all-out efforts by area firefighters to prevent damage to homes.

Flames erupted on Camp Bullis about 4:15 p.m. in an area where a grass fire had previously ignited Tuesday afternoon, said Phil Reidinger, public affairs spokesman for the base.

San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood said the fire had burned about 150 acres, but no structures were damaged.

County spokeswoman Laura Jesse said late Wednesday that the fire was 70 percent contained.

Yoni's blind ideology loses again. I would say evacuations and deployment of aircraft is a significant fire.

[SnakeBoy]

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Firefighters-contain-Camp-Bullis-area-fire-2159647.php



Yoni's blind ideology loses again. I would say evacuations and deployment of aircraft is a significant fire.


lol You said it was "barely contained" and then quote an article that shows it was easily contained. In fact there were dozens of small fires out here that year, they were all promptly extinguished. It's stupid to try and bring the Hill Country into this topic. Before you have a forest fire you have to have a forest. It's not possible to have massive uncontrollable fires out here, not enough fuel & too much development.