Reader Opinion: Fires and climate change

Your paper used to be a source of somewhat objective journalism. Lately it appears to have veered off the rails. A recent story stated that forest fires were at record levels and related to climate change. Climate hysterics like to start their comparison in the 1980s, which allows them to claim there has been an increase in either the number of fires or acreage burned, albeit modest. But the full data series shows no such thing. Hard to imagine all those fires in the 1920s and ‘30s were CO2 related. Nor are the current ones, which are nothing unusual. As everyone now acknowledges, current fire levels are most likely related to poor fire suppression tactics by the U.S. and Canadian forest services for decades in the 20th century; tactics which allowed the buildup of flammable material.

A recent editorial, copied from the Rochester paper, referred to global warming as a sure thing and implied it is man-made. In reality, the actual temperature change is well within the variability experienced for centuries. A number of analyses using U.S. temperature data have shown that almost all U.S. warming has occurred in urban areas and is due to the urban heat island effect. As usual, the climate hysterics like to start their time series analyses at a point where the result supports their preferred policies, but the full series of data does not support it.

Your paper should provide readers with full and accurate information on all topics, and not just regurgitate unsupported opinions.

Kevin Roche

Nisswa

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