Links tagged “wildfire”

"The World Meteorological Organization should immediately retract this flawed study and issue a formal statement publicly correcting the record." ... The facts fly in the face of the reporting. The WMO and its authors chose to misrepresent disaster data as gathered by one of the most reputable agencies in the world, the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) in their EM-DAT database. ... The CRED system’s counts rose as it received reports from more and more sources over the years. Comparing totals from the 1970s with 21st century data is not only inappropriate, but also a blatant misuse of statistics to bolster a pre-ordained conclusion of increasing destruction.

Biden after touring wildfire damage in Colorado that destroyed more than 1,000 homes: “We’re gonna have windmills, you’re gonna see that have 100-yard wingspans, each, each propeller on that on that windmill, 100 yards long. So there’s so much that’s going to be able to be done.”

#

Ben Pile: "Climate scientists are the worst people to listen to about floods. They are overwrought with emotion, self-importance and ideology. The best people to speak to are engineers. The engineer's solution to flooding is to build and maintain waterways and drainage, properly zone development, and to raise land levels or barriers where appropriate... And so on...The climate scientist's solution to the possibility -- or even inevitability -- of flooding is to completely transform society, to regulate lifestyles and to enforce austerity. But it will still flood."

Pielke Jr. : "What is climate attribution about? Politics first, science second So let's err on the side of claiming every weather event is linked, connected, fueled by climate."

Consider also that according to data from the U.S. National Weather Service from 2000 to 2020 only four of the strongest category of tornadoes were observed (which are labelled as F/EF5 tornadoes) In comparison, from 1954 to 1974 36 (!) such powerful tornadoes were observed. Our research on tornado damage in the United States over many decades shows a decline that is suggestive of an actual decline in tornado incidence. Based on the IPCC assessment of the literature, along with the underlying data and research, the only scientifically valid answer to the question of whether greenhouse gas emissions and associated climate change are leading to more or more intense tornado outbreaks — a “new normal” — is that neither tornadoes nor the most intense tornadoes have increased since at least the 1950s.

Extreme weather expert Dr. Roger Pielke Jr.: "I can’t get over how egregiously wrong this NYT article is. Vulnerability to weather extremes is currently lower than it has ever been - in rich and poor countries — ever! This is one of the most significant science, technology & policy success stories of the past century. The idea that 'no one is safe' (NYT) Is as much misinformation as anti-vaccine propaganda. People around the world have never in all of history been more safe in the face of weather and climate extremes."

Bastardi's fact check: 

1) wildfires less than 20% of earlier 20th century in acreage burned.

2) Hurricane ace index/storm near record lows this year, Globally no increase. EPAC/WPAC well below average So is total Global production this season.

3) Much worse storms than what we see now have always run rampant. The list is legion and too numerous to name.

4) Heatwaves are nothing compared to the 1930s , and if you didn’t have rolling blackouts due to energy policy, there would be less problems, Why the rest of the nation would want to adopt the example of California is beyond any rational person. Besides cold kills more than warm, another fact ignored.