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Promoted from the diaries by streiff. Promotion does not imply endorsement.
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Every so often, the subject of climate change rears its ugly head.  Anything can cause the Kraken of climate change to emerge- a hurricane here, a typhoon there, a drought elsewhere.  This time, it is the fire in the Amazon rainforest.  This may come as surprise to most but there are, generally speaking, large and small scale fires raging every day throughout the world.  NASA satellite imagery- not always accurate since it detects heat, not necessarily fire- indicates that the amount of “fires” raging in the world looks almost exactly like it did 15 years ago.  In fact, the same areas seem to be ablaze- the Amazon rainforest and large swaths of Africa.

A better indicator of satellite imagery is smoke.  Even here, climate change alarmists have misread the evidence.  In one widely-circulated report (since corrected) they misidentified thunderstorm clouds for the smoke.  With respect to the recent “the Amazon is burning down” narrative, the alarmists often ignore facts and appeal to emotional rhetoric.  Farmers need land, they tell us, so what better way to clear arable land than burning down parts of that pesky rainforest.  There are a couple of problems with these arguments.

First, Brazil, where most of these fires are occurring, does not keep accurate statistics on the size of forest fires.  While they may report that the number of fires has increased over 2018, they fail to distinguish the size of the fire.  The United States, incidentally, does keep records on not only the number of wildfires but also their size.  A few months ago, Americans watched as it appeared California was burning itself into oblivion.  It would again surprise many to learn that despite the imagery coming from California into every American’s living room on the news the number of fires and their size was actually below average.

The second fact regarding these fires in Brazil is that although large and alarming, we do not know the cause of them.  We do know that the media has run with stories about arson and the evil farmer narrative is always a winner.  But, here is the biggest surprise of them all: most of these fires appear to occur on land already cleared for agriculture.  Even a climate change alarmist propaganda machine- the New York Times- had to admit this fact.  Further, a deeper analysis of fires in the Amazon rainforest- not just Brazil- indicates that in the years 2003 to 2007 (five years), there were more and larger fires.

So the next obvious question is why the sudden concern?  The answer is simple: it is another false example of the devastating effects of climate change.

It is also interesting to note that the sudden concern just happened to coincide with the most recent G7 summit attended by that greatest of all perils to the planet- President Donald Trump.  It took French President Emmanuel Macron to hijack the confab by tweeting about the Brazilian fires.  It takes no courage to call out a Brazilian leader not present at the G7 conference since Macron is long on virtue signaling and short on courage.  It makes sense; he’s French.  He also managed to belittle himself further by using a picture of a fire in 1989, not 2019, to prove his “point.”

Like many of the climate change alarmist crowd, Macron is a hypocritical fool.  You can lump him in with Prince Harry who jets around the world spewing more carbon dioxide into the air in his planes on a single trip than most countries spew in a year.  Tom Steyer and Leonardo DiCaprio are two other notable faces.

So far, the Atlantic hurricane season has been relatively quiet, but one can rest assured that as soon as one starts to grow in size and threaten the US mainland, the cries of climate change will ring throughout the airwaves.  All those models that predict doom- many of which have failed to come to fruition- may not be able to explain why despite this being “the hottest year on record” it failed to produce a devastating hurricane if that comes to pass.  Perhaps that “record heat” bypassed the Atlantic Ocean?

Regardless, hurricanes, wildfires, tornados, and every other meteorological phenomenon have been happening since there was an earth.  Chances are- since scientific meteorological records go only so far back in history- there were worse hurricanes, wildfires, and tornados in the past.  What makes the news today is the climate change hysteria atmosphere of the media which has bought into the narrative wholesale, and secondly, its impact on humans.

These latter phenomena I like to call the shark conundrum.  Every year we hear about people being attacked by sharks- something that has likely happened since man first stepped a foot in an ocean.  We are usually told that the number of shark attacks is up in the current year, followed by at least three visions of victims.  Is it that the sharks have become suddenly more aggressive to humans?  Or is it more likely that more people are living near the coasts and swimming in waters normally inhabited by sharks?  My guess is the latter.  And so it is with the devastating effects of climate change.  They are more devastating because more people have placed themselves in the paths of hurricanes and failed to plan adequately for the inevitability of a hurricane.

Macron’s gambit failed in more than one way.  Besides being exposed as a foolish virtue signaler, his tweets and concerns fell on deaf American ears.  Some have described President Trump as a “climate change denier,” the ultimate insult to those who fail to adhere to the alarmist orthodoxy.  This writer does not believe that Trump denies climate change.  What he may question is man’s contribution to climate change.  What he will not do is sacrifice an economy based on alarmist rhetoric.

Like every anecdotal story about climate change trotted out by the Left to prove their point, facts often negate the rhetoric.  This is especially true when the predicted tragedies fail to come to fruition.  Then, the goalposts are pushed back a little further, their falsities explained through nuance, and the language changed.  Global warming ceased to exist when it was proven the globe was not warming.

Trump has been dogged throughout his administration by the Russia collusion hoax.  The country and the world have been dogged by the manmade global warming/global warming/climate change hoax for at least two decades now.  They are the little boys crying wolf too many times.  Is it any wonder that unless you are a young Leftist/Democrat, climate change barely registers on the list of concerns to voters?

Their solutions, such that they realistically exist, would fundamentally alter the United States economy.  This is what Trump is against.  The Al Gores, Leonardo DiCaprios and Prince Harrys of the world would feel very little economic pain if the Left ever got its way.  Instead, it would be the average Joe who would bear the brunt of their policy solutions.

Fortunately, real people who cast real votes are not falling for the nonsense coming from the lips of people like Al Gore, DiCaprio, Prince Harry and especially Macron.  Unfortunately for them, facts have a tendency to get in the way of a narrative and nothing proves that more than the current hysteria over fires in the Amazonian rainforest.