Fort McMurray Fires: Karma or Science
441 views · Published 30 May 2016 · 3:39 · Indexed 1 November 2026
Channel: Friends of Science · 2016 · Science & Technology
When massive fires broke out in the Fort McMurray area of Alberta, home to the oil sands, many anti-oil activists were quick to call it 'karma' and some people thought it was brave to blame the fires on 'climate change' - suggesting Anthropogenic Global Warming as the driver. In fact, the Flat Top Complex Review of 2012 noted that all of Alberta's forests are aging and the old conifers are much more flammable than they were 50 years ago. Likewise, recent real short-term climate-altering events, like the natural cyclical phenomena of El Nino and Pacific Decadal Oscillation, also had a role to play. Michelle Stirling, Communications Manager for Friends of Science takes a poke at those who were so quick to lay their agenda-driven blame on people who lost everything, and the industry that is the key driver of the Canadian economy. The May temperature trend at Fort McMurray from Environment Canada is -0.066 ºC/decade, ie, cooling.
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