to think that if this pic of the Portugal sky doesn't make you take climate change seriously, nothing will?

[ArcheryAnnie]

Just posted this on another thread, and then thought fuck it, more people need to see this.

I felt really quite unsettled by the yellow sky and red sun yesterday. I have been trying to think how people in the paths of the recent hurricanes have been feeling, especially in Puerto Rico. And then I saw this photo of what the sky looked like over Portugal with the wildfires, and it's absolutely terrifying.

What will it take to make more people take climate change seriously, and more importantly, act on it?

I have no question about climate change - but these fires are almost certainly due to arson. Better examples exist.

These fires and sky colour nothing to do with climate change. CC exists but this pic is not proof

Agree with the others OP. This is not really that much to do with climate change.

I do believe in it though. i think most sensible, logical people do.

This isn't proof neither is a red sun climate change has always happened one way or another

I takes a special kind of stupid to confuse a dust storm for climate change. You are undermining the whole argument for climate hangs here.

Not proof of climate change at all

I read this earlier and wanted to say i didn't get the link between the sand/smoke in the sky pictures and climate change but didn't because i thought i'd sound a fool

I believe humans are causing huge damage to the planet.

I bereave in climate change, but how much is caused by humans and how much would happen any way as a natural fluctuation I don't know.

I also don't know from your post what is going on in the pic...please use your words to educate me.

Climate change is a definite! It’s been happening for millions of years. The presence of humans or lack of is not going to stop it. Admittedly we may be speeding up the warming process but you can be sure it’ll continue warming and cooling long after humans have gone.

The fires themselves may be due to arsonists. However, they have been made worse by dry vegetation as a result of a hot dry summer, and they were fanned by winds from Hurricane Ophelia (hurricanes would not normally affect this area, as they require warm surface waters). These two contributing factors are related to climate change.

Fires in Northern California are partly to do with climate change (hotter, drier air; unusually fierce wind; less rain) making the conditions for such a fire more likely. However, there's also a hundred+ years of development and suppression of fires which have lead to there being more material to burn and the ignition points may well have been down to humans. As I understand it the same issues affect the fires in Portugal - climate change isn't to blame for the fires, but it is one of the things that has helped to make them worse than they would otherwise be.

x-post!

You do know Why there was a red sun though don't you?

Yes, of course forest fires are caused by a whole bunch of things, including changed land use and arson, both of which are a factor in Portugal. But climate change is also a significant factor.

There's a ton of information out there, but I found this article from this summer quite useful www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/30/europes-extreme-june-heat-clearly-linked-to-climate-change-research-shows.

And yes, Marmalade - dust from the Sahara.

The fires in Portugal are not to do with arson - they are to do with hot dry windy weather and unmanaged forestry. This is probably connected to climate change.

But that picture has nothing to do with CC.

In fairness to the op, these fires are exacerbated by climate change. This summer was exceptionally hot and dry over Europe, making fires more likely to get going and get out of control. The weather experts were also saying that there is no doubt that climate change is contributing to the strength of these hurricanes, which helped to fan the wild fires and blow the smoke over us giving us the weird skies yesterday.

The UN Climate Change committee begs to differ, Marmalade.

"It takes a special kind of stupid......"

There's always a twat

CLimate does and will change over time - the real issue is the acceleration and exacerbation of the swings in changes because of actions or things we do i.e. releasing trapped carbon into the atmosphere (burning coal, petrol, oil etc)

A receptionist told me today that the fires were started by terrorists. Surely she meant arsonists?

@Ttbb you do know that's a pic of smoke from a forest fire and not a dust storm, right?

(Though particles from the forest fires in Portugal, as well as the Sahara dust, were alleged to have contributed to the yellow sky in the UK.)

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing...

This image has nothing to do with climate change.

The climate is in constant change, and there is little humans can do to prevent it. I am sure human activity has effected the climate, however it’s mostly down to Mother Nature.

It has been a particularly busy hurricane season. So rule of thumb for me (NE USA) means I am in for a lot of snow (5ft+) and cold