| I took it simply as a comment on how the same scale of impact has very different emotional responses if the cause is a big, notable event vs. a long-running regular one. Isn't this the entire problem with climate change in general? It's really hard to get people concerned with very small temperature changes over long periods of time because we use our human perspective; it's hard for us to understand a geological time scale. These types of observations help IMO. >> The Australian wildfires are destroying ecosystems on a scale cats don't really do. And a much greater variety of wildlife is dying than what cats will typically kill. Well, domestic cats are considered an invasive species in much of the world, and in Canada are the #1 killer of birds. Studies show they are the 3rd biggest offender towards putting species at risk. The story is worse on islands, of which we have many. >> Finally, wildfires don't support life. They're naturally occurring things, but they are not an activity occurring in the support of other life. This is absolutely wrong. Lots of forests in Western Canada depend greatly on regular, large-scale fires to support specific species of flora and fauna. Our excellent job of preventing these fires is likely to blame for many huge problems like mountain pine beetle and predator/prey imbalances. |