Turning Up the Heat

It's been a hot summer in British Columbia's south this year.  Stories about this are very hard to ignore.

It's BC's second-worst wildfire season.  From earth-orbiting satellites, this is what it looks like out here:

It's been record-breaking hot in Europe too, with health warnings being issued in several locations.

Of course, this is exactly what scientists predicted several decades ago.  Now it's here.  And it's going to get worse.  If people thought refugees fleeing war were a serious problem, consider how it will look as 20% of the world population starts to flee parts of the world that will become uninhabitable over the coming decades.  Fleeing blistering temperatures and crop failures.

The wildfires in BC aren't only a symptom.  They are adding to the problem, by releasing even more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.  Last year, when a severe wildfire raged through Alberta's Fort McMurray, it wasn't considered proper to wonder if our fossil fuel use was linked to a changing climate which was causing such extreme fire events.

Of course, we know that it is.  We've been told for years.  A very small amount of research should be enough to make most sensible people think soberly about what needs to be done.  

Some will argue that a) it's a hoax and no action is necessary, or b) it will cost too much and will wreck the economy.  What such positions conveniently ignore is that we are paying already for our inaction, and it will only get worse.  Much worse.

We could start to connect the dots and start serious action now.  Or we could kick the can down the road a bit further.  At least now we have some idea what the future will look like.