Six Republican representatives sent a letter to Canada’s ambassador to the United States to demand action from the Canadian government regarding wildfires. According to them, the fires are producing plumes of smoke that cross the border and affect their respective states. They point to forest management and arson as contributing factors, but don’t mention climate change. mmmmm.....they should think twice before sending letters.They should know that 50% of these wilfires are triggered by lightning and also each increase of 1 degree increases by 12.5% lightning activity......nothing to do by forest management......also they should know that the majority of wildfires of canada are located in northern canada where they is no one living there.. As a Canadian citizen , I must admit that Republican politics in regards to Canada is.....being polite, a big turn off
Yeah just think of all that CO2 that's being belched up into the atmosphere from the fires - that they claim they are so worried about.
Good point , but in a more global perspective , republican politics and mother nature dont quite match up. I respect the american democracy but just imagine a sudden eruption of mount St Helen , trigering politicial blame from other counties for the incomfort of their population......cheap shot !
I am sincerely interested in knowing the source for lightning increase per unit of surface warming. Another factor involved in wildfires is extent and severity of drought. Both of which have increased in recent decades. Recent studies of global wildfires give 2.3 petagrams (billion tons) of carbon release per year. This can be compared to about 10 petagrams carbon release per year from fossil fuels. Also interesting is total human use of forest products (wood, bioenergy, fiberboard, paper) which total about 2 petagrams carbon equivalent. Forest regrowth after fires trap CO2, and I can assure readers this process is being widely studied. This for example popped up recently: Satellite observations provide insight into post-wildfire forest recovery
“In the vast unmanaged forests of the North, there should be an 11 % to 31 % increase in lightning frequency for every one-degree rise in temperature,” explains Matthew Jones of the University of East Anglia. He is the lead author of the study linking lightning and global warming, published in 2023 in the journal Nature Geoscience. “The models agree on this point, even though they differ for the tropics, where most lightning occurs.” At 60° latitude (far-northern regions), each 1 °C rise leads to more than a 20 % increase in lightning. At 45° latitude (temperate zones), the same 1 °C warming produces less than a 20 % rise in lightning. This variation reflects that the Far North is heating up faster than areas closer to the equator, amplifying each additional degree’s impact on storm activity.
I believe President's Trumps answer to control California's wildfires was to 'rake the forest'; even though those fires was sparked on federal forestry land and burned into nearby towns. The simple solution was to have Leon lay-off most of those Federal workers, so who's raking the forest now?? The latest plan is to cut 25% more lumber. Of course the companies awarded contracts will simply clear-cut rather than trim. The administration spin-doctors are saying trim/thin; but who's going to manage this? Certainly not those laid-off forestry workers and the investigative branches of government responsible to root out corruption and ensure contract compliance was the first DOGE causality!!! YMMV
MOST? In the whole history of the 'federal worker industrial complex' HOW MANY TIMES has the number of federal workers gone DOWN?? WHO are the 'spin doctors' -EXACTLY?
Sorry, no offense - but when demand goes up and you don't automate systems. Someone needs to take up the extra work. What is the US population growth rate? You put systems in place first; before lay-offs and you do it selectively; so as to not effect current ongoing projects/operations. (ie. lay-off of CDC workers tracking viral strains across the globe or FDA drug trials to name a few.
doesnt it depend on 10+ million illegal entries being counted? That's going to require a lot of fed workers one might presume? Or less fed workers if they are removed? I recall certain teachers unions at one time freaking out at their monies being cut because some areas were homeschooling more than others - which meant the district's money went down. Kind of like realizing what side of the bread the butter is on. Or how about millions & millions more being counted for census - which means you need more people in the house of representatives?
There was a big decrease in federal workers under Clinton. It happened after a Gore lead group studied the federal apparatus to determine where cuts could be made without disrupting service. Then the plan was presented to Congress.
That is the proper approach to reducing government inefficiency. NOT knee-jerk wholesale layoffs that impacts government operations. UNCERTAINTY; is what's currently stifling businesses big and small NOW! Look at Ford, GM, Coke; thinking about moving operations overseas because they can't plan or budget for future operations and directions of their companies. Maybe Apple comes through and actually hires 20K people this time around - BUT at what overall COST. This is cutting your nose off to spite your face and calling it a win..... Sorry, we should probably get back onto topic - Wildfires....
Your correct, but census are done every decade and illegals aren't legally allowed to vote. That's a whole another topic on it's own that involves how local jurisdictions handle this. Just wish current administration would do some REAL fact finding before 'shooting from the hip'. Fun fact is that Vietnam don't have to worry about tariffs. Trump resort also got the permits and operating licenses go-ahead to break ground there.