"Somewhere in the attic I have a photograph of my old BMW R1100RS taken during a trip to Portugal. It’s in a forest. Well, what was a forest until it burned down. Wild fires are nothing new. The trip was in 1995 and the place still smelled of the recent burning. Talk to the locals (as we did) and they will tell you that it happens every so often. "
Well of course it does. The temperature is never high enough for spontaneous ignition, but the seasonality of the weather means that stuff grows in the wet season and becomes very dry in the summer - dry enough to be ignited by a smoker, a cooking fire, or even lightning. 1.5° C is not going to change any of that.
ReplyDeleteEven in the UK, the grass verges on motorways catch fire if they aren't cut back - smokers throwing cigarette ends from cars. Heathlands have fires - usually started by teenage idiots.
"Even in the UK, the grass verges on motorways catch fire if they aren't cut back"
ReplyDeleteSince councils are now leaving most grass verges uncut (using "Re Wilding" as an excuse), that's likely to be a bigger problem. On seconds thoughts - due to the large amounts of Global Warming that have been falling from the sky this summer, it probably won't make any difference...
"1.5° C is not going to change any of that."
ReplyDeleteIndeed!
"Since councils are now leaving most grass verges uncut (using "Re Wilding" as an excuse), that's likely to be a bigger problem. "
So much for 'elfnsafety'...