I listened to this interview on the radio yesterday. At WBUR in Boston Here and Now radio host Jeremy Hobson interviewed Gary Ferguson, award-winning author of Land On Fire: The New Reality of Wildfire in the West.
Ferguson confirmed what seems like an obvious trend, that we are experiencing more and more wildfires than in years before, saying, "Human-caused climate change is probably responsible for doubling the number of acres burned since 1985. So it's a very, very fast change, and it looks like from all the evidence out there that this is just simply going to be worse before it gets better." Thirty years. That is a big difference in a short amount of time. There are of course other factors that exacerbate wildfires and the problems we experience because of them. There is mismanaged fire suppression, and there are the increasing number of people choosing to live in and around forest and wildland areas. But it is things like this that really bring home what climate change is doing to our world and how important it is to reduce emissions. Climate change is not just a few warmer days in summer and snow melting earlier in springtime. Climate change more wildfires and more property damage from those fires. That is why it is important to lower emissions right now in any way we can. I'll be writing about other effects of climate change in future blogs. What are some things that are being affected by climate change that concern you? Please leave your comments below.
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December 2017
CategoriesAuthorPaul Hormick is the founder of South Park Climate Solutions. He sees climate change as one of our central concerns, for ecologies as well as societies. He holds a master's degree in Environmental Science and Policy from Johns Hopkins University |