A recent news report in the Billings Gazette indicates that global
warming is contributing to forest fires. According to a global warming
activist Steve Running, "Since 1986, longer, warmer summers have
resulted in a fourfold increase of major wildfires and a sixfold
increase in the area of forest burned, compared to the period from 1970
to 1986."
Is that really the case? Not according to James Taylor of the
Heartland Institute. According to the National Interagency Fire Center,
which has wildfire statistics going back more than half a century,
wildfires have decreased, not increased, as global temperatures have
risen.
According to the National Interagency Fire Center:
- In 1986, there were 85,000 wildfires.
- Last year, there were 47,000 wildfires.
- There were fewer wildfires in 2013 than in any year since 1984.
- So far, there have been 38,000 wildfires in 2014.
So how can Running claim that wildfires have quadrupled since 1986?
Taylor notes that Running used the term "major" wildfires --
significant, because the U.S. government has changed its policy towards
wildfires in recent years. Today, wildfire policy allows wildfires to
burn freely, until the fires begin to pose a threat to humans. This
means that small wildfires are allowed to become much larger blazes,
resulting in a 50 percent increase in acreage burned in 2013 compared to
1986, despite half as many wildfires actually taking place last year.
Source: James M. Taylor, "
Sorry, Steve Running, Wildfires Are Decreasing with Global Warming," Heartland Institute, September 15, 2014.
NCPA
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