As a lifelong Southern Californian, I remember the 1973 fire season. It was capped by a 200,000 acre fire that burned from Newhall to Malibu. But the ‘73 fire season pales in comparison to what we have seen here in recent years (namely the 2003 and 2007 seasons). Factor in monstrous fires in other parts of California (Woodpecker, McNalley, Zaca fires etc), and it becomes clear that fire activity has increased greatly in recent years.

That single 1973 outlier is a very weak argument against the global-warming/wildfire connection, especially when you compare it with more recent fire seasons.

Expert: Warming Climate Fuels Mega-Fires
http://www.cbsnews.com/ stories/ 2007/ 10/ 18/ 60minutes/ main3380176.shtml

(…)“60 Minutes joined up with Tom Boatner, who after 30 years on the fire line, is now the chief of fire operations for the federal government.

Asked what the biggest fires now are, Boatner says, “We’ve had, I believe, two fires this summer that have been over 500,000 acres, half a million acres, and one of those was over 600,000 acres.” (. . . )

What I’d like to say about the big fires is that I agree about the record and interpretation, but we should keep in mind the lessons from Elers Koch’s Forty Years a Forester: there were many big fires in the early 1900s, as big as this year.

We just forget the lessons. We will always have fire.

Best,

D

1 million fled fires? As the smoke clears, the numbers shrink ;
27-old arson suspect killed by cops, another arrested
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/

“Why are there more of these fires? Turns out the forest service is partly to blame with a policy it started 100 years ago.

The policy was to put out all fires immediately. “Because we so successfully fought fire and eliminated fire from this ecosystem for a hundred years, because we thought that was the right thing to do, we’ve allowed a huge buildup of fuel in these woods. So now, when the fires get going, there’s a lot more to burn than historically you would’ve seen in a forest like this,” Boatner explains.”

http://www.businessandmedia.org/ articles/ 2007/ 20071024132139.aspx

I see you admit the last time things were this bad was 130 years ago. Think about what that means for a second. It was this bad BEFORE ANY POSSIBILITY OF ANTHROPOGENIC CLIMATE CHANGE. So your own admission is that it gets this bad 100% NATURALLY.

Now I see you’ve already dismissed another of the real reasons for the catastrophic fires. You say that someone (no doubt with an agenda) has dismissed the fact, the know, proven fact, that the fires we have are much worse because we’ve disrupted the natural process by which they were regularly burned clear periodically. I’d be careful what I accept as fact if I were you. All anyone who has eyes has to do is ignore what some person who is overzealous about preventing common-sense practices from being implemented and just go out and see for yourself how overgrown the wild spaces in San Diego have become. Common sense alone tells you that more fuel means hotter, harder to fight fires and along with that consider that the overgrowth also complicates rapid access.

Climate change is real and inevitable. You’d better accept the fact the earth has been warming, more or less, for thousands of years and man is doing little if anything to influence the natural processes behind it. Rising atmospheric CO2 is an effect, not a cause. If I thought it would do any good I’d explain the simple facts behind this truth but since it most likely won’t I’ll just give you a hint or two. Consider what happens to the concentration of a gas dissolved in a liquid as the liquid is heated. Consider the fact that the earth and it’s oceans have been warming naturally since long before man even discovered fossil fuels.

And a parting question: Which is it you prefer? A gradually warming earth or the next ice age?

Here’s one that should be commented upon & debunked by the Believers -

http://www.businessandmedia.org/ articles/ 2007/ 20071024132139.aspx

The article ask why those who are pushing the various myths such as catastrophic anthropogenic global warming are so intent on scaring us out of our wits with all their gloom and doom rhetoric.

It’s so we’ll act without thinking, like they do.

They know if we think it through we’ll see how stupid their positions are.

It’s that simple - the only way they can possibly hope to accomplish their agendas is through fear and defeatism. Motivate people to believe they’re doomed if they don’t do exactly what they are told.

No thanks.

http://scrippsnews.ucsd.edu/Releases/?releaseID=739

They don’t claim fuel load isn’t a factor. But they show that warming has a stronger influence and is what is driving the spike in big fires.

“The west coast of the United States is expected to experience significant strains on water supplies as regional precipitation declines and mountain snowpacks are depleted. Forest fires are expected to increase in frequency, severity, distribution, and duration.”