America on Fire

America is on fire.  This might be considered a problem.  I mentioned recently that much of the southwest is undergoing drought from mild to maximum levels.  This article discusses megafires in Arizona and Texas.  Affected areas are largely Republican, and the Republican party tends to disbelieve climate change.  When it's their own hunting ranges and houses going up in smoke, perhaps this will eventually clue them that the climate really is changing.

Dry conditions encourage fires.  Fires encourage floods.  Floods encourage landslides but also plant growth, which later dries out and becomes prone to fires.  So the problem is just getting worse.

Consider also some other aspects of climate change -- torrential rains, blizzards, wild heat waves and cold snaps, violent tornadoes and thunderstorms and hurricanes, etc.  Look at the individual pieces and it may not seem related.  But consider them together and they do create a consistent pattern: extremism.  We've cut into the buffers that help keep the climate moderated, so that there are gentle swells instead of wild swings in precipitation, temperature, and moisture.  Without those buffers, we get slammed.  No amount of money or political influence will protect you from the direct path of a large wildfire, flood, or storm.  We need to restore buffer zones such as forests, grasslands, and marshes.  That's not easily done when the environment is hysterical.