“The science is not settled on this." Rick Perry

[Botany]

From an April 2011 article that was based on real science

http://www.climatesciencewatch.org/2011/04/29/texas-wildfires-rage-amidst-historic-drought-conditions-denial-of-science-in-washington-dc-confronted-by-climate-reality/

Texas wildfires rage amidst historic drought conditions. Denial of science in Washington, DC, confronted by climate reality.

"It’s not just because the temperature is higher, it’s a combination of changes that are set in motion by the changing climate," said David Cleaves,
the climate change adviser to the chief of the U.S. Forest Service (Climate Central, April 27). “What’s happening today in Texas and the Southwest
should be a wake-up call on climate change. These are the kinds of conditions that we expect to see more often as climate warms,” said Dr. Julia Cole,
Professor of Geosciences, University of Arizona (Project on Climate Science, April 25)

snip

It is hard to say exactly why this drought and the associated fires have been so persistent and devastating, but some experts note that long-term
climate change may play a role.

"It’s not just because the temperature is higher, it’s a combination of changes that are set in motion by the changing climate," said David Cleaves, the
climate change advisor to the chief of the U.S. Forest Service, part of the Department of Agriculture. He added that rising temperatures and the potential
for more frequent extreme weather events — both heavy rainfall as well as extended drought — could conspire to make conditions that much more
conducive to fire.

"It starts with a lot of rain and a flush of growth, followed by extreme drought," Cleaves said. "So you have even more vegetation to burn than you would
have normally had because of the rain part, but then it’s drier because of the ." This has played out to some extent in Texas, where the summer
of 2010 was unusually wet, and the drought conditions that followed have left plenty of dry vegetation to serve as "fuel" for the fires.

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Great Site to Bookmark Climate Science Watch ..... all that fancy book learning and such.

http://www.climatesciencewatch.org/

[shireen]

1. “But part of that disaster declaration ought to include Governor Perry. He’s a disaster.”

Great quote!

Thanks for this good resource, i've bookmarked it as a reference.

[Botany]

2. The article was written in April ......

.... but it could have been written yesterday.

[Mr Deltoid]

3. Nero fiddles while Rome burns