AmericanPapist Comments
Well I heard that due to the extremely hot and dry winds, the soil and vegetation in California has been drying out more than usual. Of cours the immediate reason for those bush fires is arson, but if somebody lets his cigarette fall into a swamp it is less likely to burn than a dry bush, isn't it?
I am by no means a "global warming hysteric", but I think in this you are doing injustice to "60 minutes".
Wasn't there a song about Southern California that mentioned that it didn't rain there?
I talked a bit about global warming at my Soccer Mom site today. I'd actually already had the quote written down when I saw this post. I also explain what makes me reticent to hop on the global warming bandwagon.
Thom,
Bash 60 minutes all you want, hold forth your own views on global warming theory, but you're more credible when you at least give your opponent's line of reasoning before you rip into them.
Just saying.
Kate
The global warming nuts claim science is on their side but their evidence only points to a slight increase of global average temperature. They do NOT have "scientific evidence" that this increase in average temps is caused PRIMARILY or even mostly by industrial modern societies.
Of course we have SOME affect on our environment. But not enough to matter when we're talking global heating.
In fact, the geological record shows that the planet has NO PERFECT TEMP. It's gone from hot to cold and hot again over and over for millions of years all without SUVs and factories.
200 years ago fires in the great plains would burn for weeks - tossing more soot and debris into the air than all our autos combined in a year.
There's no cause for panic - except those who want socialism and see this as an excuse to scare us into it.
AmPap wrote: "...human beings are the one species that is able to and tries to put [fires] out."
Hmmm. I remember a scene in THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY where a rhino stomps out a camp fire.
I think you owe rhinos around the world an apology.
The tree-hugging peace-loving Godless left.
The drive by media strikes again, Kate! You're in great company.And these clowns in the "mainstream" media wonder why we no longer trust or believe very little of what they "report." Tom
ps Goofy Harry Reid should stop speaking before he "thinks."
Thomas,
I know that you are trying to make a point, so I am not arguing that. But here is something to think about.
The severity of the fires is exasperated by human beings through faulty but well intentioned government and/or environmental group policies.
1) Fire suppression - fire is part of the natural cycle. By suppressing some fires, forest lands are allowed to over-grow, concentrating too much fuel into too little space.
2) Controlled burns (or lack thereof): The Forest Service often times wants to do a controlled burn in some areas to remove excessive undergrowth. Time after time, the AQMD (California Air Quality Management District) will block it on air quality grounds, or groups like the Sierra Club will sue to block it because the area is part of the habitat of some endangered species.
I'm short on time right now to provide references, but they shouldn't be hard to find. In 2003, when the last time Southern California had a series of major fires, Senator Diane Feinstein admitted after the fires that she would look at these policies to see how they contributed to the severity of the fires.
Brian those are excellent points. I grew up in San Diego, so I'm aware of some of these issues. Everything you mention is (to me) clearly a more proximate cause of these fires than "global warming."
BD and AmPap: right. It is a misnomer to call these fires "Southern California" wildfires. They are actually "Extreme Southwestern California" fires, ie, in the only spot where some brush (fuel) is able to grow in the desert, and the same spot where people live.
Brian posted pretty much on what I would write. I'd echo others critical of your unfair approach. You can do way better than imitating the drive-by media approach.
Certainly, human influences are more dire in these fires than climate change. One can indeed trace their severity to human intervention in the environment, careless smokers or intentional arsons aside.
As has been said above, the earth has gone through cycles of heat and cold before and is going through one now. There is global warming, but it is 90% or more part of a natural cycle of events.
Whilst mankind does put methane into the atmosphere, many times more is produced by bovine flatulence - so are we to slaughter all the cows to stop it?
Politicians have jumped on the 'global warming' bandwagon as a way of raising taxes without too much protest from the populace.
'Environmental' companies, such as the producers of wind turbines and solar panels are doing very nicely thank you as a result of the hysteria that a corupt press have whipped up to sell more papers.
Well, we've been told againa nd again that global warming was going to bring us heavier and heavier hurricane seasons in the southeast.
Now that we are running out of water in Atlanta because the last few hurricane seasons have been lighter than predicted, our drought is a product of global warming. We just can't catch a break, apparently. Mother Nasture hates us.
Just a little FYI.
Some people dont believe in global warming at all.
They dont think the planet is heating up be it natural, or caused by man.
It really doesnt matter how its happening....its happening.
It has been for a very long time.
Here in Los Angeles, we have the La Brea tar pits where mammoth have been found.
Just off the coast are 3 islands.
Those 3 islands used to be one big island, and going even further back, they were part of our coast.
Mammoth have been found on these islands, and they arent very big land masses at all.
Sea level rose, swallowing up the lower area of the single island, leaving only the peaks with very little flat land.
The mammoth now had to climb steep inclines in order to eat.
The large mammoth were unable to do this because they were so tall.
(about 14-17 feet to the shoulders).
The larger mammoth died, while the smaller runt mammoths were able to climb and eat.
This created a smaller mammoth that is dwarfed.
It's much like dog breeders do to make dogs smaller and smaller.
But the mammoth dont really have much to do with the point of this....just pointing out they had to come from the mainland, and got stuck on islands when the sea level rose.
It has never gone back down since that time....it has however risen.
If its been rising all that time at a very slow rate, and now its speeding up, we are in for a big suprise when california's coastal areas are submerged.
Guess that will put out the fires eh?
Oh and Brian Day, 2003 was not the last time California had a series of major fires.
Where were you last year when we were evacuating our homes?
I walked out my front door and couldnt see a damn thing due to thick smoke...it was time to go...
Nobody else was leaving...all staying to protect their homes....
I grabbed the animals, my loved ones, and took off.
Stuff can be replaced, so theres no sense in hanging around breathing all that crap in.
So global warming, wildfires, hurricanes, gang violence, terrorism, bacteria in food, drugs in our tap water, chemtrails, poverty, terminal illnesses, hate crimes, corruption, and war....just to name a few....are going to get us either way.
The kids are getting away with more and more each year, and our prison system is beyond overcrowded.
These kids will run the world someday with their grand theft auto ideals and values.
The economy drives more and more people into committing crime because they cant survive otherwise.
There arent enough jobs to go around, so our country goes into debt supporting people that dont work, which also leaves them with nothing better to do but loaf around and make more babies.
The worlds destiny is unfortunately inevitable.
If one thing doesnt get us, the other 100 things will.
Sad but true.
It may not happen in the next 25 years, and it may not happen in the next 100 years (thats a stretch) but we will destroy ourselves if nature doesnt do it for us.
No wonder E.T. sneaks around trying not
No wonder E.T. sneaks around trying not to be seen...would you want to come here if you were them?
Maybe they are studying earth so that after we destroy ourselves, they can repopulate earth with their own kind.
Maybe E.T. doesnt exist...does it really matter?
So lets spend another 100 gazillion dollars on the space program, and only 1/100th of that amount on law enforcement.
Lets give truckloads of money to other countries while the people here at home starve.
Does it really matter? Not at all.
It's not like we are going to be moving to some other planet anytime soon...or ever.
We come up with new and improved ways of hating each other everyday....and if we dont figure out how to stop hating each other, theres really no future for us.
And they say mankind is intelligent....look how we act.
Everyone needs something to believe in....
Why cant we believe in ourselves?
Why cant we trust our neighbors?
Why cant we trust ourselves?
Simply put....
We Are Screwed!
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