If climate change is behind the horrific brush fires in Australia, then North Americans should be concerned about climatic changes killing off their own forests.
"[Australia's] fires should be regarded as the face of climate change, and...we can expect similar events to happen [in the United States]. Victoria (in Southeastern Australia) has been facing a severe drought for years. There's also recently been a heat-wave, with the temperature briefly hitting 115 degrees F last week. Extraordinarily dry conditions and heat led to massive fires, which as of this writing have killed at least 135 people and possibly over 200.
[A]s Global Warming intensifies, the tropics expand. As the tropics expand...that dry area where all the world's deserts are located moves a bit closer to the poles. Lots of other changes in precipitation happen, too.
Our turn is coming. Across the American west, trees are dying due to climate change. A few weeks ago, a study found 'Old-growth forests once studded with pine, hemlock and fir trees are dying across the western U.S. and Canada at double the rate of a half-century ago in what scientists are blaming on climate change.'
Droughts, warming and dead trees- these are the necessary ingredients for massive fires. How many canaries do we need?"
FULL STORY: Hell Comes to Australia: The Face of Climate Change
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Economic & Planning Systems, Inc.
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research