LA Times Invents Fake Link Between Climate, Drought, Wildfires

The Los Angeles Times has launched a new way to make money and gain leftists accolades from the false climate crisis: a new newsletter called “Boiling Point.”

Sammy Roth, a Times energy reporter, opened a May 5 preview of the newsletter by telling quite a whopper – and providing no scientific evidence to back it up.

Roth claimed, “Drought conditions in Northern California may prompt an early start to the 2020 wildfire season – and as Californians have learned in recent years, climate change is fueling more devastating droughts and fires.”

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) does report, here and in the chart below, that Northern California is currently experiencing “moderate drought,” and is one of the few places in the country experiencing dryer than average conditions.

At the same time, NOAA reports most of California is experiencing normal conditions, while Southern California is experiencing “moderately moist” conditions.

Hmmm… some areas are dry, some are moist, and most are normal. It must be a climate crisis!

In reality, as shown here and in the same NOAA graph above, only a small amount of the country is experiencing drought.

Also, Climate at a Glance: Drought reports the United States is undergoing its longest period in recorded history without at least 40 percent of the country experiencing “very dry” conditions, with peaks in droughts around 1978, 1954, 1930, and 1900 being much larger than what the U.S. experienced during any time in the 21st century or the late 20th century.

Just as compelling, Climate at a Glance: Drought reports that in 2017 and 2019, the United States registered its smallest percentage of land area experiencing drought in recorded history.

Even the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change acknowledges with “high confidence” that precipitation has increased over mid-latitude land areas of the Northern Hemisphere (including the United States) during the past 70 years, while IPCC has “low confidence” about any negative trends globally.

Since drought conditions are low, and drought is easily the single biggest climate factor regarding wildfires, it should come as no surprise that wildfires have not become more frequent or numerous in recent years.

In the few regions that have experienced particularly severe wildfires, such as California and Australia, geologist Gregory Wrightstone and Montana state Sen. Jennifer Fielder explains that the root cause of these fires is government policies hampering proper land management in areas prone to wildfires.

Perhaps all this good news and scientific evidence are why Roth and the Times are required to make false statements, without presenting scientific evidence, in order to perpetuate their money-making climate scare.

Read more at Climate Realism