Global Warming news from all over....
WSJ.com - Higher Temperatures Cited For Increase in WildfiresHigher Temperatures Cited For Increase in Wildfires
New research suggests that higher regional temperatures have contributed to an increase in large and costly wildfires that have hit the Western U.S. in recent years.
The study, published yesterday in the online version of the journal Science, argues that unusually high temperatures in the Western U.S. have led to earlier and longer dry seasons, making it easier for large fires to erupt.
“Summer arrives earlier and lasts longer, so the vegetation dries out more” and becomes more flammable, said Anthony Westerling, who conducted the research with two of his colleagues from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, and a fourth scientist from the University of Arizona.
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The Western forests are crucial to the continent's environment as they act as a sponge and absorb 20% to 40% of all carbon dioxide absorbed across the U.S. If more large fires continue to erupt, the forests may instead become a major emitter of carbon dioxide. The notion that climate change may play a big role in wildfire activity suggests that new approaches are needed to reduce the risk.“The idea that we'll spend a little more money on fire suppression and that this could somehow counteract the trend [of wildfire activity] doesn't seem credible to me,” said Dr. Westerling. “You have to reduce future increases in temperature by having policies that reduce global emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.” Many scientists, including Dr. Westerling, believe that greenhouse-gas emissions contribute to global warming.
But Al Gore is crazy, and wore funky clothes in 1999....
Tags: Al_Gore, /global_warming
