In an article on Grist Magazine Thursday entitled, "The bizarre and frightening conditions that sparked the Camp Fire," Eric Holthaus begins by noting the terrible magnitude of the harrowing tragedy that struck Paradise, California last week:
"The Camp Fire, which destroyed the town of Paradise, is now the most destructive to ever hit California and the deadliest wildfire in modern American history. As of Thursday night, 63 people are known to have died, and 631 are still missing. The last fire this deadly was back in 1918 in Minnesota — before professional firefighting or meteorological science."
Then Holthaus hijacks the pain and suffering of 63 dead people 631 missing and all their families and uses it as a platform to push a political agenda of totalitarian economic central planning.
Does he have no shame? Calling for "radical changes," Holthaus wags his finger at all of us for the tragedy, blaming the fact that we drive cars, use electricity produced by fossil fuels, and buy affordable goods efficiently delivered by planes and trucks:
"Our unnaturally warming climate set the stage for the return of this type of devastating fire. The Camp Fire, and the escalating onslaught of weather emergencies like it, crystalizes the urgency of the climate challenge: Without radical changes, there will be more fire catastrophes like Paradise.
According to local meteorologist Rob Elvington, the Camp Fire began under atmospheric conditions with 'no analog/comparison' in history for the date. Northern California’s vegetation dryness was off the charts — exceeding the 99th percentile for any single day as far back as local records go. 'Worse than no rain is negative rain,' wrote Elvington. The air was so dry, it was sucking water out of the land."
Holthaus states it as an undisputed fact that, "Our unnaturally warming climate set the stage for the return of this type of devastating fire," but even the Journal of the American Meteorological Society says "some initial evidence indicates that human-induced climate change is unlikely to have caused the failed rains" in California since 2011.
The abstract for the paper even says the climate scientists' own measurements and computer simulations indicate "industrial-era global radiative forcing" has resulted in more rainfall in California, which has been balanced out by higher temperatures drying soil moisture faster. Read this entire excerpt from the abstract.
Bold text for emphasis mine:
"The model simulations show that increases in radiative forcing since the late nineteenth century induce both increased annual precipitation and increased surface temperature over California, consistent with prior model studies and with observed long-term change.
As a result, there is no material difference in the frequency of droughts defined using bivariate indicators of precipitation and near-surface (10 cm) soil moisture, because shallow soil moisture responds most sensitively to increased evaporation driven by warming, which compensates the increase in the precipitation.
However, when using soil moisture within a deep root zone layer (1 m) as covariate, droughts become less frequent because deep soil moisture responds most sensitively to increased precipitation.
The results illustrate the different land surface responses to anthropogenic forcing that are relevant for near-surface moisture exchange and for root zone moisture availability. The latter is especially relevant for agricultural impacts as the deep layer dictates moisture availability for plants, trees, and many crops.
The results thus indicate that the net effect of climate change has made agricultural drought less likely and that the current severe impacts of drought on California’s agriculture have not been substantially caused by long-term climate changes."
But Grist Magazine isn't going to let facts stand in the way of the bold, radical agenda they have in mind, the plans they have to fundamentally alter the form of a society that has produced more material well being, safety, and security, as well as comfort, cleanliness, and pleasure for more people than any society in history. The cosmic scale of the American success story is not enough to stop these busybodies from trying to "fix" something that isn't broken. Maybe making it better isn't their goal.
Holthaus concludes:
"We know the kinds of bold, radical plans that scientists say are now necessary to steer the world toward a safer future — including remaking the American economy to rapidly reduce emissions immediately. We have the money, the time, and the knowledge to implement them. Future fires are a given, but we can avoid future tragedies at the level of Paradise."
The unimaginably horrific deaths of 63 people in a horrible accident, what an occasion to wag your finger at society and say here's what you're all doing wrong! I should be your master!
Parasites are they who lower themselves to feed on human sores. Opportunistic scavengers are they who descend like vultures to feast on a brutal catastrophe and the good will toward our fellow people that one engenders, not to let, as Rahm Emmanuel once said, a serious crisis "go to waste."