The Fires of California

For John, BLUF:  The mainstream Media is not being completely honest with us about the current epidemic of fires out West.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Forest Fires Aren’t at Historic Highs in the United States. Not Even Close

Here is the sub-headline:

California’s wildfires are a serious matter, but the official record of the United States shows forest fires in the US today are far below the annual average in the 1930s and 1940s.

from The Foundation for Economic Education, by Mr Jon Miltimore, 21 September 2020.

Here is the key paragraph:

News agencies and NIFC were simply ignoring all data prior to 1960.  When this data is included, one sees 2017’s record setting fires burned about one fifth of the acreage of fires in 1930 and 1931.  These were peak years, but they were not exactly anomalies, Lomborg pointed out.  The entire data set, a quarter century of figures that comes from the official record of the United States, shows the yearly average between 1926 and 1952 was several times higher than the peaks of today.

the numbers are charted in the article.

So, if folks aren't honest about forest fires, what else are they not being honest about?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff