Those are the words of Tom Wordell who is a wildfire analyst at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. He was describing the situation in Southern California and dismissing media claims that somehow global warming was involved in the fires. Sadly, the description is apt. San Diego and southern California is a very arid climate.
The study, however, found Southern California was different from the rest of the West, with no increase in the frequency of fire as temperatures rose.
"In Southern California, it's hot and dry much of the year," said Anthony Westerling, a climate scientist at UC Merced and the study's lead author. In other words, Southern California was already perfect for fire.
"That is a fire-prone environment regardless of whether we are in a climate-change scenario," said Tom Wordell, a wildfire analyst at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. "I don't want to be callous, because many people are homeless and suffering, but if you live in a snake pit, you're going to get bit."
But eventually global warming could make Southern California's occasional droughts more persistent, exacerbating the fire danger.
Enough with the agenda foolishness. Democrats trying to score points against the Bush administration; media trying to further other agendas. Enough. People's homes are burning, instead of trying to score points, how about making a donation to the Red Cross?
It’s simple. San Diego is a desert. Period. I know that, I live here.
Every single year for as long as San Diego has existed and before then as well, we get what are called Santa Ana’s. We get them on and off for the next 4 months. Nothing new there. When we get them it get’s hot, and it get’s dry. Things tend to burn.
Nothing new.
Jenn… as a rational person, i do agree with you! however, the politicians and the MSM are going to blow this all out of proportion… like… Harry Reid… a sure sign of global warming? This man is an idiot!
Jenn and Gaius, yup.
The agenda pushers (Left-1st Church of the Presumtuous Assumption of Global Warming® [did I get that right?] and Right-environmentalists) are pretty much equally contemptible. San Diego County burns, has for over a hundred years (interesting fact, the Witch Creek Fire is now the 3rd largest in CA history; number 1 [2003 - Cedar Fire] and number 4 [1970 - Laguna Fire] are also in SD County). The spread of exurbs makes the consequences worse, but it’s nothing new.
LA Times has an interesting graphic of the historical fires in the LA Basin over the past 120 years. Go to this page and look for the “A history of fire in Southern California link. If it can burn, it will burn eventually.
Sorry link didn’t take. Cut and paste:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-fires-graphics_maps,0,7189699.gallery