THIS IS WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE

US wildfires are what global warming really looks like, scientists warn; The Colorado fires are being driven by extreme temperatures, which are consistent with IPCC projections

29 June 2012 (Reuters via UK Guardian)

“Scorching heat, high winds and bone-dry conditions are fueling catastrophic wildfires in the US west that offer a preview of the kind of disasters that human-caused climate change could bring, a trio of scientists said…

“In Colorado, wildfires that have raged for weeks have killed four people, displaced thousands and destroyed hundreds of homes. Because winter snowpack was lighter than usual and melted sooner, fire season started earlier in the US west, with wildfires out of control in Colorado, Montana and Utah.”

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“The high temperatures that are helping drive these fires are consistent with projections by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which said this kind of extreme heat, with little cooling overnight, is one kind of damaging impact of global warming.

“Others include more severe storms, floods and drought, [climate scientist Michael Oppenheimer of Princeton University, Steven Running, a forest ecologist at the University of Montana, and Howard Frumkin, a public health expert at the University of Washington] said…”

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