[MCN] Speaking of fire risk, add this ......

[Lance Olsen]

Excerpt :  The boreal forest that rings the northern tier of the world is burning at a rate unseen in 10,000 years <https://www.climatecentral.org/news/arctics-boreal-forests-burning-at-unprecedented-rate-16278>. Rising temperatures have played a role by drying out forests and priming them to burn and creating conditions where fires are more likely to spread. That releases carbon dioxide <http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2020/01/australias-bushfires-have-likely-doubled-the-nations-carbon-emissions>, ensuring ever larger fires by heating up the planet further.

The coronavirus could also be making matters even worse. The lockdown is likely helping drive the fires. Russia’s lockdown started with a focus on Moscow in late March. It’s since spread to the rest of the country and been extended until May 11. Many city residents left for the countryside to have more space and have been ignoring fire safety rules, according to the Siberian Times report. The economic slowdown is also making it harder to muster resources to fight the flames.

What’s happening in Siberia is a preview of what’s to come in other parts of the world. The Amazon’s dry season is about to get started and could be worse than last year’s dangerous fire season <http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2019/08/the-amazon-forest-fires-are-a-form-of-genocide>. In western North America, wildfire season is also just around the corner. For California in particular, the challenges could be severe after the state received only half of its normal precipitation over the winter <http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2020/03/warning-signs-of-widespread-drought-loom-over-california>. Climate change is complicating wildfire season there, and coronavirus will only complicate it further.”

We Should Probably Talk About The Huge Wildfires In Siberia Right Now
May 2, 2020
<<https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2020/05/we-should-probably-talk-about-the-huge-wildfires-in-siberia-right-now/ <https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2020/05/we-should-probably-talk-about-the-huge-wildfires-in-siberia-right-now/>>>


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“The fact is that we, humans, have changed the composition of the atmosphere with respect to heat-trapping gases enough to start the progression of global climate, not into a new steady state, but into an open-ended warming that is pulling the environment out from under this civilization.”

George Woodwell

<<https://thinkprogress.org/exclusive-dr-george-woodwell-sets-the-record-straight-455bfcf14412/ <https://thinkprogress.org/exclusive-dr-george-woodwell-sets-the-record-straight-455bfcf14412/>>>
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“The most painful and expensive way to deal with global climate change will be to ignore it until something happens that elicits powerful public demands for immediate and Draconian action.”
 
Jonathan Lash. “As the earth heats up." 
Journal of Commerce, August 16, 1996.

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