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The Fires this time........
The most ominous thing about these fires is that they are not merely an effect of climate change, they are a cause.
The burning of the forests and tundra is releasing astounding quantities of carbon, stored for centuries in the wood and the permanently frozen subsoil.
Melting permafrost releases methane, a greenhouse gas many times more destructive of the world’s climate than carbon dioxide.
The fires are in fact a feedback mechanism, accelerating climate change as climate change accelerates them.
In one of Ray Bradbury’s searing, never-to-be-unread short stories, an astronaut in a space suit is floating languidly in space, musing on his existence and the wonderful perspective he has on the blue planet Earth below him. Shortly we learn that these are the musings of a doomed man, as he is in fact hurtling toward that earth and will die a fiery death when he hits the atmosphere. Just before that happens, we leave him, and join a mother and small child taking an evening walk as the child looks up in wonder and says, “Look, Mom! A shooting star!”
Somewhere in the northern hemisphere tonight, a small child will look up in wonder and say, “Look, Mom! What a pretty sunset!”
The burning of the forests and tundra is releasing astounding quantities of carbon, stored for centuries in the wood and the permanently frozen subsoil.
Melting permafrost releases methane, a greenhouse gas many times more destructive of the world’s climate than carbon dioxide.
The fires are in fact a feedback mechanism, accelerating climate change as climate change accelerates them.
In one of Ray Bradbury’s searing, never-to-be-unread short stories, an astronaut in a space suit is floating languidly in space, musing on his existence and the wonderful perspective he has on the blue planet Earth below him. Shortly we learn that these are the musings of a doomed man, as he is in fact hurtling toward that earth and will die a fiery death when he hits the atmosphere. Just before that happens, we leave him, and join a mother and small child taking an evening walk as the child looks up in wonder and says, “Look, Mom! A shooting star!”
Somewhere in the northern hemisphere tonight, a small child will look up in wonder and say, “Look, Mom! What a pretty sunset!”
Excellent website, and writer.
http://www.dailyimpact.net/2015/07/22/the-fires-this-time/#more-2993
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Response to dixiegrrrrl (Original post)
