Watching the news lately, you’d be forgiven the impression the world is on fire. Of course wildfires are seasonal – as I duly noted just weeks ago in “Two-Headed Hydra of Climate Change Has California Burning, New York Flooding,” on July 13.
But the devastation they’re causing is becoming increasingly apocalyptic.
Here is how CBC reported on this phenomenon yesterday:
_________
Forest fires have set large parts of Algeria, Turkey and Greece aflame over the past week, and a European Union atmosphere monitor said the Mediterranean had become a wildfire hot spot aided by increasingly hot weather.
Meanwhile, Spain and Portugal were on alert for wildfires amid a heat wave forecast to last through Monday.
Worsening drought and heat — both linked to climate change — have also fuelled wildfires this summer in the western U.S., British Columbia and northwestern Ontario, as well as in Russia’s northern Siberia region. Scientists say there is little doubt that climate change from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas is driving extreme events.
_________
Frankly, it seems no place on earth is being spared the ravages of wildfires. Even swathes of my island paradise of The Bahamas are up in flames.
Reports are that the ones in Siberia are bigger than all the world’s other wildfires combined; and that people there are just letting them burn. But people elsewhere feel compelled to fight them, no matter how futile.
God promised not to destroy the world again by floods. But the vengeful and wrathful Almighty never precluded wildfires…
Related commentaries:
wildfires in CA and floods in NY…
Legacy Note: With over 5,600 posts spanning 20 years, I am easily the most prolific blogger on the most eclectic array of topics on the web. That makes The iPINIONS Journal an unparalleled archive of informed political and cultural commentary. Visit the ARCHIVES section in the sidebar or search by topic. You won’t find a more consistent, independent voice on world affairs.