a very good summary, Dr. Hulbe; thanks!
One of the points Westerling et al make that I keep driving home to folks here in NW California is that we already have evidence of global warming's effect on fire seasons in two areas of western N America: most powerfully in the N Rockies, esp in the lodgepole forests; and secondly here in NW California's already-hot-and-droughty interior.
Since much of that interior is the globally significant Klamath-Siskiyou, we've got both a growing threat to biodiversity to consider, and also the prospect that if we can find the wisdom and the will, right action might help to maintain these tangled mountains and rivers as an ark against the effects of climate change.
What a wonderful essay! Thanks, Dr. Hulbe. Certainly one thing that has led to more intense fires in the West has been the infestation of pine bark beetles. In Southern California the high desert forests near Banning have almost all been turned to extremely flammable dead tinder. It's an awesome and frightening sight to see a massive forest fire move across the landscape.
Posted by Mary at September 11, 2007 10:46 PM