You can’t relate a one-off event like Israel’s massive forest fire near Haifa to climate change, which has to be measured over a long series. It is the worst in Israel’s history. But what is true is that more and more such disasters will be faced by those regions of the earth that become dessicated — as a result of changes in weather patterns caused by the rise of carbon dioxide parts per million in the atmosphere from 280 in the 18th century to 389 today.
Climate scientists have demonstrated a clear drying trend in the Mediterranean and other sub-tropical regions.
It is ironic that so much blood has been shed on who will possess that forest near Haifa, and Mother Nature just reminded us whose it really is: Hers.
ITN on how the blaze is still raging on the third day:
and this from Reuters:
Such a tragedy that an untouched area of natural forest is being destroyed.
Still, one must always look on the bright side – it can now be developed as it has been destroyed.
Darn, my <cynic> and < /cynic> tags around the last parapagraph disappeared from my earlier message
Have a look at the following for more details about the history of this area
link to gilad.co.uk
Minor point: The fire isn’t “massive” by American standards. The latest numbers I see are 40 sq. km., or about 2/3 the size of Manhattan.
Is this the point where we do the usual, and veer off the main path into the rocks and rice paddies, and start arguing about whether it was Hamas or Hizbollah who “started the fire,” or maybe “Iran” or maybe some really devious Mossad or people from the National Religious Party or Yisrael Beitenyu or United Arab List? Or maybe one of the HDTV “Christian” sects, Over There doing their damndest to get Armageddon back on track to the predestined date at the end of history?
I mean, those kinds of visceral textwars that really get the tribal blood and drums to pounding are so much more.. familiar, and comfortable, and enjoyable… than worrying about oh, root causes and what can or can’t be done to keep the fears and greeds and wants and demands of 7 or 9 billion humans from totally destroying the Big Board on which the Great Game is being played by the few who know their lives will be comfortably over before the pawns being sacrificed out of generations unborn learn how badly they have been rooked…
It’s no help for them that “We Didn’t Start The Fire.” link to yeli.us
Oops:
“…caused by the rise of carbon particles per million in the atmosphere from 280 in the 18th century to 389 today.”
To quibble, it’s not carbon particles in the atmosphere, it’s carbon dioxide (CO2) gas that’s contributing to global climate change. Our planet’s atmosphere presently contains about 390 parts of carbon dioxide per million (ppm). See, for example, link to en.wikipedia.org.
RE: “Israel’s Mega-Fire”
MY COMMENT: I wonder if all those dimes contributed to the Jewish National Fund (JNF) years ago helped to provide some of the fuel for this forest fire. They did go to plant trees in Israel, didn’t they? Or is this all ‘old growth’ forests burning?
RE: “Climate scientists have demonstrated a clear drying trend in the Mediterranean and other sub-tropical regions.” – Juan Cole
MORE KINDLING FOR THE TINDERBOX: “GOD-TV evangelical Christian channel funds Israeli ethnic cleansing” ~ By Neve Gordon, Redress, 12/04/10
Neve Gordon looks at how an evangelical Christian TV channel with a viewership of nearly half a billion people, including 20 million in the USA and 14 million in Britain, is funding a project to ethnically cleanse Israels Bedouin citizens from their ancestral land.
ENTIRE ARTICLE – link to redress.cc
This is the first I’m hearing about forest fires in Israel. We’re having the same problem in Iran in Golestan province, now in its fourth brush fire, and a couple of other places in Iran as well. Parallels? See hello to regional climate change? Keep in mind all this is happening practically in the Winter!
Many of those fire fighters do not have helmets on. I thought that was standard practice
“Minor point: The fire isn’t “massive” by American standards. The latest numbers I see are 40 sq. km., or about 2/3 the size of Manhattan.”
Maybe not geographically, but in terms of human life, cost, and aid, this is probably the biggest natural disaster in Israel’s history.
Well, yes, it can be developed and renewed again but it will take another 50 years to become the same like it was before. By the latest news the fire was caused by some people that they were having a picnic in the forest. Their irresponsible behaviour had caused all this. It is a shame that even happened something like that…