There is a simplistic way to talk about the link between climate change and catastrophic wildfires and other natural disasters:
The science makes clear that many extreme weather events have increased in recent years “” and that there is a link to climate change.
You can shout from the rooftops:
CNN, ABC, WashPost, AP, blow Australian wildfire, drought, heatwave “Hell (and High Water) on Earth” story–never mention climate change
NBC News ignores climate change, blows bark beetle story
The NY Times Blows the Wildfire Story
The NY Times Blows the Drought Story, too
USA Today ignores the Link Between Extreme Weather and Climate Change
AP Blows the Extreme Weather Story
Or, you can be grounded firmly in science and still be declarative, as demonstrated by RealClimate in this post on the recent Australian wildfires:
So, did climate change cause these fires? The simple answer is “No!”
And you can still be nuanced and mature at the same time, in the same post:
While it is difficult to separate the influences of climate variability, climate change, and changes in fire management strategies on the observed increases in fire activity, it is clear that climate change is increasing the likelihood of environmental conditions associated with extreme fire danger in south-east Australia and a number of other parts of the world.
It’s your choice. In the next post I’ll talk about why the environmental community is going to have to decide on which which approach to take.