There never have been wildfires here....

[Dittohead not!]

...until now.

In the annals of California’s wildfire history, so much is happening now that seems unfathomable: The number and size of this year’s fires — and their maddingly erratic behaviors — have created the worst season in the state’s modern history. Nearly 4 million acres have already burned, killing 26 people.

But what has stunned officials most about the state’s 8,000 fires is the location of the largest blazes: sizzling deep in stands of redwoods along what should be a fog-shrouded rainforest. The state’s oldest park, Big Basin Redwoods, was gutted by fire.

link

But it's all about mismanagement of forests. Global climate change couldn't possibly be contributing to wildfires, since that's just a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese to keep us from being competitive. Trump himself said so, so it must be true.

 

[Jack Hays]

California's Wildfire History - in one map
perimeters of wildfires that have burned in California from 1878 to 2018 using data from the California Department ... if there is very little of California that has not been touched by wildfire. Large areas of desert in
no issue with the wind farms killing off our California golden eagles - soon to be extinct.

 

[Bergslagstroll]

...until now.



link

But it's all about mismanagement of forests. Global climate change couldn't possibly be contributing to wildfires, since that's just a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese to keep us from being competitive. Trump himself said so, so it must be true.

Wild fires are getting more severe all across the world.

Explainer: How climate change is affecting wildfires around the world

This year has seen unprecedented wildfires cause havoc across the world. Australia recently battled its largest bushfire on record, while parts of the Arctic, the Amazon and central Asia have also experienced unusually severe blazes.

www.carbonbrief.org

Siberia’s 2020 heatwave made ‘600 times more likely’ by climate change

The Arctic is one of the most rapidly warming regions on Earth, increasing at a rate double the global average.

www.weforum.org

Australia’s wildfires have now been linked to climate change

Australia’s devastating 2019–2020 wildfires were at least 30 percent more likely due to human-caused climate change.

www.sciencenews.org

There have been three times more wildfires in the EU so far this year

More than 1,600 wildfires have been recorded so far this year — more than three times the average amount recorded by the same time over the past ten years.

www.euronews.com

 

[Jack Hays]

Wild fires are getting more severe all across the world. . . .

No.

Wildfires
Data Show Canadian Wildfires At Lowest Level In Decades
Here’s something surprising from Paul Homewood, Not A Lot Of People Know That. While USA wildfires are running higher the last couple of years, according to Canada’s National Forestry Database, the number of forest fires in Canada has been at the lowest since 1990. Of course, Canada takes a management approach to forests compared to…

Global trends in wildfire and its impacts: perceptions versus ...
royalsocietypublishing.org › doi › rstb.2015.0345
by SH Doerr - ‎2016 - ‎Cited by 180 - ‎Related articles
Jun 5, 2016 - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences ... Global trends in wildfire and its impacts: perceptions versus realities in a ... The 'command and control' attitude of most Western societies neglects the ...

 

[Dittohead not!]

No.

Wildfires
Data Show Canadian Wildfires At Lowest Level In Decades
Here’s something surprising from Paul Homewood, Not A Lot Of People Know That. While USA wildfires are running higher the last couple of years, according to Canada’s National Forestry Database, the number of forest fires in Canada has been at the lowest since 1990. Of course, Canada takes a management approach to forests compared to…

Global trends in wildfire and its impacts: perceptions versus ...
royalsocietypublishing.org › doi › rstb.2015.0345
by SH Doerr - ‎2016 - ‎Cited by 180 - ‎Related articles
Jun 5, 2016 - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences ... Global trends in wildfire and its impacts: perceptions versus realities in a ... The 'command and control' attitude of most Western societies neglects the ...

All across the world does not necessarily mean in every country of the world. The Earth does not recognize our political boundaries.

California has fires where there have been no fires due to the wet climate. It's having heat waves on the north coast where 70 is considered a sweltering summer day and 50 and foggy is just normal.

 

[Jack Hays]

All across the world does not necessarily mean in every country of the world. The Earth does not recognize our political boundaries.

California has fires where there have been no fires due to the wet climate. It's having heat waves on the north coast where 70 is considered a sweltering summer day and 50 and foggy is just normal.

Hmmm. So I guess "all" doesn't really mean all.

In any case, global wildfires are down.


Global trends in wildfire and its impacts: perceptions versus ...
royalsocietypublishing.org › doi › rstb.2015.0345
by SH Doerr - ‎2016 - ‎Cited by 180 - ‎Related articles
Jun 5, 2016 - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences ... Global trends in wildfire and its impacts: perceptions versus realities in a ... The 'command and control' attitude of most Western societies neglects the ...

 

[Dittohead not!]

Hmmm. So I guess "all" doesn't really mean all.

In any case, global wildfires are down.


Global trends in wildfire and its impacts: perceptions versus ...
royalsocietypublishing.org › doi › rstb.2015.0345
by SH Doerr - ‎2016 - ‎Cited by 180 - ‎Related articles
Jun 5, 2016 - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences ... Global trends in wildfire and its impacts: perceptions versus realities in a ... The 'command and control' attitude of most Western societies neglects the ...

It did seem like wildfires were down back in June. We weren't having any locally (west coast) at that time. My, how things have changed!

 

[Rawley]

...until now.
link
But it's all about mismanagement of forests. Global climate change couldn't possibly be contributing to wildfires, since that's just a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese to keep us from being competitive. Trump himself said so, so it must be true.

Pre 1800, four million acres a year was normal.

https://nature.berkeley.edu/stephenslab/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Stephens-et-al.-CA-fire-area-FEM-2007.pdf

 

[Dittohead not!]

Pre 1800, four million acres a year was normal.

https://nature.berkeley.edu/stephenslab/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Stephens-et-al.-CA-fire-area-FEM-2007.pdf

Sounds about right. The chaparral used to burn off periodically, as I've already observed. None of those fires were in the coast redwoods though.

 

[Rawley]

Sounds about right. The chaparral used to burn off periodically, as I've already observed. None of those fires were in the coast redwoods though.

Most of this study goes over my head, but there apparently been a lot of studies on Coast Redwoods and they were frequently subject to fire.

"Coast redwood(Sequoia sempervirens(D. Don) Endl.) forests are found in north-central coastal California and is an excellent recorder of past fires. Many studies have documented relatively frequentfires in this forest type (Table 5) and most of these fires were ignited by Native Americans for avariety of resources objectives."

 

[Jack Hays]

It did seem like wildfires were down back in June. We weren't having any locally (west coast) at that time. My, how things have changed!

Abstract excerpt from the Royal Society link:
"Wildfire has been an important process affecting the Earth's surface and atmosphere for over 350 million years and human societies have coexisted with fire since their emergence. Yet many consider wildfire as an accelerating problem, with widely held perceptions both in the media and scientific papers of increasing fire occurrence, severity and resulting losses. However, important exceptions aside, the quantitative evidence available does not support these perceived overall trends. Instead, global area burned appears to have overall declined over past decades, and there is increasing evidence that there is less fire in the global landscape today than centuries ago. . . . "

 

[longview]

Most of this study goes over my head, but there apparently been a lot of studies on Coast Redwoods and they were frequently subject to fire.

"Coast redwood(Sequoia sempervirens(D. Don) Endl.) forests are found in north-central coastal California and is an excellent recorder of past fires. Many studies have documented relatively frequentfires in this forest type (Table 5) and most of these fires were ignited by Native Americans for avariety of resources objectives."

I seem to recall reading that the redwoods require fire to reproduce.

 

[Rawley]

I seem to recall reading that the redwoods require fire to reproduce.

Wow. You know what, that did ring a bell, and yup, they need fire.

Fire helps giant sequoias in many ways. Small, green cones full of seeds awaiting germination grow near the crown of the trees, yet without fire or insects to crack open the cone, the seeds remain trapped inside. Green cones can live with viable seeds inside them for up to twenty years. Fire dries out the cones, enabling them to crack open and deposit their seeds on the forest floor.

Fire and the Giant Sequoia

www.150.parks.ca.gov

 

[Dittohead not!]

Abstract excerpt from the Royal Society link:
"Wildfire has been an important process affecting the Earth's surface and atmosphere for over 350 million years and human societies have coexisted with fire since their emergence. Yet many consider wildfire as an accelerating problem, with widely held perceptions both in the media and scientific papers of increasing fire occurrence, severity and resulting losses. However, important exceptions aside, the quantitative evidence available does not support these perceived overall trends. Instead, global area burned appears to have overall declined over past decades, and there is increasing evidence that there is less fire in the global landscape today than centuries ago. . . . "

Nevertheless, fires occurring currently are historic, the biggest and hottest fires in the history of California. fires of the past were bonfires in comparison to what we're seeing currently. Several national forests are closed currently due to extensive fires. Even in what is a fire prone area, this is something new, not seen in recorded history.

Yes, periodic fires burned in the past, many set by native Californians to clear brush and encourage growth of useful plants, mostly beneficial to the ecosystems. The chaparral comes back quickly, re growing from the roots that survive. The large trees survive the fire while brush and small trees are cleared. That's not what we're seeing now. We're seeing devastation, forests that won't come back for decades.

 

[Dittohead not!]

Wow. You know what, that did ring a bell, and yup, they need fire.

Fire and the Giant Sequoia

www.150.parks.ca.gov

The giant sequoia have indeed survived many fires. If you visit them, you will see trees that have extensive fire damage, yet are still growing. It's a fascinating area. What they are not, however, is the redwoods that grow on the north coast, not in the Sierra. That is an area prone to lots of rain and fog, a very cool wet climate. Any fires there were set deliberately and never got to be big wildfires due to the climate in which they burned.

at least, not until recently. The rain forests are getting drier.

 

[Jack Hays]

Nevertheless, fires occurring currently are historic, the biggest and hottest fires in the history of California. fires of the past were bonfires in comparison to what we're seeing currently. Several national forests are closed currently due to extensive fires. Even in what is a fire prone area, this is something new, not seen in recorded history.

Yes, periodic fires burned in the past, many set by native Californians to clear brush and encourage growth of useful plants, mostly beneficial to the ecosystems. The chaparral comes back quickly, re growing from the roots that survive. The large trees survive the fire while brush and small trees are cleared. That's not what we're seeing now. We're seeing devastation, forests that won't come back for decades.

The data are otherwise.

MetOffice, IPCC Climate Scientist Prof. Richard Betts Misunderstood Science Behind Drying Forests
By P Gosselin on 29. September 2020

Share this...
Just recently Anthony Watts posted an article on wildfires penned by Paul Homewood. Lately alarmists have been blaming the active forest fire season on global warming. They warn that warmer temperatures will lead to more wildfires.
Is it so?
First it’s important to note that warmer temperatures don’t necessarily lead to more drought and wild fires. For example in 2018 I reported here how the Sahara desert has shrunk by a whopping 700,000 sq km over the recent decades, even though this is a region with very warm temperatures.
Also we know that the earth’s surface has often been drier during cooler times.
Moreover, aspiring meteorologist Chris Martz here explains that long-term forest fires have not been getting worse in the USA, and “are nowhere near as bad as they used to be”.

U.S. wildland fire counts by year since 1926 (Figure 5a – left) and U.S. wildland fire burn acreage over that same time period (Figure 5b – right).
Climate scientist doesn’t understand why forests dry . . .

 

[Dittohead not!]

The data are otherwise.

MetOffice, IPCC Climate Scientist Prof. Richard Betts Misunderstood Science Behind Drying Forests
By P Gosselin on 29. September 2020

Share this...
Just recently Anthony Watts posted an article on wildfires penned by Paul Homewood. Lately alarmists have been blaming the active forest fire season on global warming. They warn that warmer temperatures will lead to more wildfires.
Is it so?
First it’s important to note that warmer temperatures don’t necessarily lead to more drought and wild fires. For example in 2018 I reported here how the Sahara desert has shrunk by a whopping 700,000 sq km over the recent decades, even though this is a region with very warm temperatures.
Also we know that the earth’s surface has often been drier during cooler times.
Moreover, aspiring meteorologist Chris Martz here explains that long-term forest fires have not been getting worse in the USA, and “are nowhere near as bad as they used to be”.

U.S. wildland fire counts by year since 1926 (Figure 5a – left) and U.S. wildland fire burn acreage over that same time period (Figure 5b – right).
Climate scientist doesn’t understand why forests dry . . .

The person you're quoting does have a point. It's not so much higher temperatures, even though that may be a contributing factor, as it is lower humidity.

How Does Humidity Impact Firefighting?

Humidity plays a big part in firefighting as the lower the relative humidity, the more vigorously that fuels may burn. Without going into equations, let’s see how temperature and humidity interact.

It's not so much how many fires there are, but how big they are and how hot they burn. The fire near here is the Creek Fire, now the biggest in state history. It created a fire tornado that tore large, mature trees out of the ground. That's nothing like the small ground fires of years past.

 

[Bergslagstroll]

All across the world does not necessarily mean in every country of the world. The Earth does not recognize our political boundaries.

California has fires where there have been no fires due to the wet climate. It's having heat waves on the north coast where 70 is considered a sweltering summer day and 50 and foggy is just normal.

There it's a risk of a much more frequent fires in Canada.

"Climate change during the 21st century is expected to result in more frequent fires in many boreal forests, with severe environmental and economic consequences.

From global climate models and scenarios, researchers are interpreting how climate change and climate variability may alter patterns of lightning, fuel moisture, temperature, precipitation and vegetation—all factors that can affect fire occurrence.

Fire-prone conditions are predicted to increase across Canada. This could potentially result in a doubling of the amount of area burned by the end of this century, compared with amounts burned in recent decades. Boreal forests, which have been greatly influenced by fire through history, will likely be especially affected by this change.

Other climate change impacts that could add damaged or dead wood to the forest fuel load (for example, as a result of insect outbreaks, ice storms or high winds) may increase the risk of fire activity.

New research is aimed at refining these climate change estimates of fire activity, and at investigating adaptation strategies and options to deal with future fire occurrence. There is growing consensus that as wildland fire activity increases, fire agency suppression efforts will be increasingly strained."

Climate change and fire | Natural Resources Canada

www.nrcan.gc.ca

 

[longview]

There it's a risk of a much more frequent fires in Canada.

"Climate change during the 21st century is expected to result in more frequent fires in many boreal forests, with severe environmental and economic consequences.

From global climate models and scenarios, researchers are interpreting how climate change and climate variability may alter patterns of lightning, fuel moisture, temperature, precipitation and vegetation—all factors that can affect fire occurrence.

Fire-prone conditions are predicted to increase across Canada. This could potentially result in a doubling of the amount of area burned by the end of this century, compared with amounts burned in recent decades. Boreal forests, which have been greatly influenced by fire through history, will likely be especially affected by this change.

Other climate change impacts that could add damaged or dead wood to the forest fuel load (for example, as a result of insect outbreaks, ice storms or high winds) may increase the risk of fire activity.

New research is aimed at refining these climate change estimates of fire activity, and at investigating adaptation strategies and options to deal with future fire occurrence. There is growing consensus that as wildland fire activity increases, fire agency suppression efforts will be increasingly strained."

Climate change and fire | Natural Resources Canada

www.nrcan.gc.ca

It is fine to predict greater risk, but does the data show that the greater risk has actually translated into more fires or more area burned?

 

[Dittohead not!]

It is fine to predict greater risk, but does the data show that the greater risk has actually translated into more fires or more area burned?

Yes.

More to the point, larger, hotter, and more destructive fires. The same thing happened in Australia during their summer and in other places around the world.

 

[longview]

Yes.

More to the point, larger, hotter, and more destructive fires. The same thing happened in Australia during their summer and in other places around the world.

In Canada?

 

[Casca XV]

...until now.



link

But it's all about mismanagement of forests. Global climate change couldn't possibly be contributing to wildfires, since that's just a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese to keep us from being competitive. Trump himself said so, so it must be true.

500 years ago, the first Europeans to explore that area wrote in their journals about wildfires worse than these.

 

[Glitch]

Wild fires are getting more severe all across the world.

No, they are not.

 

[Dittohead not!]

500 years ago, the first Europeans to explore that area wrote in their journals about wildfires worse than these.

That just simply isn't so. There were large fires, to be sure, but none as hot as what is burning now. The grass and brush have been burning off for centuries before people decided foolishly to build houses in the fire zone then attempt to put out any fires that started. This led to fuel build up and bigger, hotter fires.

 

[Dittohead not!]

No, they are not.

No, he's right:

Wildfires are devastating the American West, but the United States isn’t the only place on Earth that’s burning. This year, other countries have also experienced their worst wildfires in decades, if not all of recorded history.

linkhttps://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/16/climate/wildfires-globally.html