Scientist Rips Into Story Blaming Wildfires on Global Warming
The Associated Press is out with a new analysis claiming that “science says” the amount of western U.S. land scorched by wildfires every year increases as temperatures go up.
However, while those things are true, simply correlating two data trends is not “science” as AP writer Seth Borenstein claims. And one expert says the simple correlation is meant to suggest a strong relationship between global warming and western wildfires that may not be there.
“This is not science,” University of Washington climate scientist Cliff Mass told The Daily Caller News Foundation. . .
However, the simple correlation between temperature and wildfires is meant to play into a broader media narrative that global warming is the main driver of fires, but Mass noted that other factors, including land management, play an important role.
State level data does show massive fires before 1950. Oregon state records show a similar trend to the USFS estimates going back to the early 1900s. Reminder: there was less CO2 in the 1930s. GASP! pic.twitter.com/cyg0sVnTll
— Mike Bastasch (@MikeBastasch) August 19, 2018
“Correlation is not causation,” Mass said. “Temperatures are warming, that is true. Wildfire area in increasing in parts of the west, also true. But one does not necessarily cause another.” (Read more from “Scientist Rips Into Story Blaming Wildfires on Global Warming” HERE)
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