Climate Realism, a platform that engages in discussions on climate and environmental matters, recently challenged the views held by mainstream media outlets such as Yahoo News and The New York Times regarding the influence of so-called “climate change” on wildfires in Canada and heatwaves in Texas.
The report was compiled by H. Sterling Burnett, a leading analyst and commentator on environmental policy.
According to Burnett, both the wildfires in Canada and the heatwave in Texas are natural phenomena not connected to the ongoing climate change narrative.
“Neither the current wildfires in Canada, nor the heatwave in Texas, which has dissipated a bit—meaning temperatures are currently below the average for the date—can be attributed to long-term climate change,” Burnett argues.
His report disputes mainstream media assertions, such as Yahoo News’ claim that the ongoing U.S. air quality alerts and heat advisories are outcomes of climate change.
The New York Times’ perspective that human-caused climate change is the main catalyst for such extreme events is also disputed in the report.
Drawing attention to the recurring nature of wildfires, Burnett says, “Wildfires happen every year across the United States and in Canada, which is why both countries have designated ‘wildfire seasons.’ So nothing is new there.”
The report also points out that there’s nothing unprecedented about smoke from Canadian wildfires impacting the U.S.
Citing evidence from the New England Historical Society (NEHS), the report mentions that Canadian wildfires created “yellow” or “dark” days several times in history, long before the use of fossil fuels became widespread.
The report criticizes the common tendency to link climate change with the frequency and severity of wildfires.
It cites data from Canada’s National Forestry Database showing declining trends in both the number of fires and area burned over the past 31 years.
Burnett reports that the Canadian Forest Service has attributed the decrease in forest fires to the combined effect of carbon dioxide fertilization and modestly rising temperatures, which have led to improved soil moisture conditions.
Corroborating this data, NASA satellites have recorded a significant global decline in the number of wildfires.
“Globally, the total acreage burned by fires declined 24 percent between 1998 and 2015, according to a new paper published in Science,” the report highlights.
Burnett’s report argues that the severity of Canada’s 2023 wildfire season is due to short-term weather conditions and poor forest management rather than climate change.
“The factors responsible for the severity of the 2023 wildfire season in Canada are short-term weather conditions, for instance a drought in some regions, less winter snowfall and warmer temperatures, and long-term poor forest management,” states Burnett.
The report also sheds light on heatwaves, specifically in Texas, asserting that the recent high temperatures are temporary and not indicative of climate change.
“In recent decades in the United States, heatwaves have been far less frequent and severe than they were in the 1930s,” Burnett writes.
Burnett concludes by emphasizing that there is no evidence to suggest climate change will cause more heatwaves, droughts, or resulting wildfires.
The report suggests that the mainstream media’s attribution of such natural disasters to climate change could lead to a misdirection of resources from the true causes of wildfires.
