Sicilian airport shuts temporarily as extreme heatwave forces hundreds to flee homes
  • shapesandstuff@feddit.deEnglish
    42·
    3 years ago

    Reminder that under 250-300C forests don’t self ignite.

    Lightning strikes or idiots are the cause. And iirc idiots lead the statistics something like 10:1

    • floofloof@lemmy.caOPEnglish
      5·
      3 years ago

      The climate does affect the readiness of forests to ignite though, by creating drier conditions. It also increases the intensity of thunderstorms in many areas. So while the number of idiots may be constant, the dangerousness of the idiots and the number of lightning strikes are increased by climate change.

      • shapesandstuff@feddit.deEnglish
        1·
        3 years ago

        Certainly, continuous droughts dry out a forest, setting it up for am idiot (or lightning strike) to set it on fire. It’s a bit of a nitpick but technically the higher temps don’t necessarily make the forest more dry, but yeah climate change does include droughts and extreme weather events.