Kit Stolz wrote:
> Probably this question falls in the category of "unknowable" or
> "conditions not inconsistent with global warming, but impossible to
> show causal relationship."
>
> Nonetheless I'd like to ask the experts here their view on the matter.
> Is there a link, do you think, between the "worst fires in living
> memory" in Greece and global warming?
>
> I see at least one argument for:
>
> Drought: Southern Greece especially has been suffering from a drought
> in recent years. According to a couple of studies I've seen, notably
> Thomas Reichler and a co-author, global warming is leading to an
> expansion of the tropics, which Reichler specifically linked to
> drought in the Mediterranean. http://unews.utah.edu/p/?r=051906-1
>
> I see one argument against:
>
> Some of these fires were apparently started by arsonists. Regardless
> of intent, Jon Keeley has shown that in Southern California, the
> number of wildfires, even in the backcountry, tracks closely with the
> number of people living in the area. Presumably the population in
> Greece has been increasing, so perhaps that is as much an underlying
> cause as any changes brought about by GW?
It's global warming either way, of course. It is well-known that people
are worse-behaved in hot weather.
Eg the number of burnt-out TWOCked cars on the common land outside our
lab was higher in hot summers than cold ones.
James
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