AN OUT OF CONTROL FOREST FIRE IN PORTUGAL THIS WEEKEND LEFT
DOZENS DEAD AND OVER 1000 FIREFIGHTERS STRUGGLING TO
CONTROL THE DAMAGE --
>>OF COURSE THERE ARE AREAS THEY CAN'T EVEN SEARCH FOR PEOPLE.
WE
WILL SHOW YOU I BELIEVE SOME VIDEO, WHICH GIVES YOU AN IDEA
OF THE SEVERITY OF THIS FIRE.
>>AND JUST THE SPEED AT WHICH IT SPREAD, THE HUGE TERRITORY IT
COVERED -- YOU HAVE SO MANY PEOPLE FIGHTING TO CONTROL IT,
BUT EVEN WITH WARNINGS AND ALL OF THAT, PEOPLE NOT ABLE TO GET
AWAY IN TIME CONSIDERING THE SPEED IT SPREAD --
>>THAT'S DIFFICULT TO EVEN THINK ABOUT --
>>THERE ARE THESE TRAGIC PHOTOS OF THE BURNED-OUT CARS, THE
ACTUAL ROAD ITSELF MELTED IN MANY AREAS.
MEANING THAT THEORETICALLY IF THE FIRE GOT AHEAD OF YOU
YOU LITERALLY COULDN'T DRIVE.
>>THAT'S A STUNNING PHOTOGRAPH.
>>THERE WERE QUITE A BIT OF GREAT PHOTOGRAPHS COMING OUT OF
THAT DOCUMENTING THIS TRAGEDY.
AS I SAID --
>>THEY HAVE HAD THESE PERIODS OF PROLONGED HEAT, THAT'S WHAT
THEY ARE GOING THROUGH NOW, WELL ABOVE WHAT THEY WOULD EXPECT.
AND YOU ADD INTO THAT DRY CONDITIONS DRY LIGHTNING,
PRESUMING THAT'S WHAT IT IS -- BUT THERE IS ALSO A COMPONENT OF
HOW ARE THEY MANAGING THE FOREST DOWN THERE?
THIS IS SUCH A
FUEL-RICH AREA, AND THE WAY TO MANAGE IT IS IN A SPECIFIC WAY.
YOU HAVE TO DECREASE THE DANGER, IN EFFECT, AND BY THE WAY NOT
JUST THE DANGER OF FIRE, BUT JUST HOW YOU MANAGE THE FOREST
IN TERMS OF PARASITES AND ISSUES THAT MIGHT ARISE BEYOND THE
FIRE.
SO I THINK THERE ARE SOME QUESTIONS AS TO FOREST
MANAGEMENT WHEN IT COMES TO THIS SITUATION IN PORTUGAL
PARTICULARLY.
>>IT ALSO MAKES YOU REALIZE, BECAUSE I READ THAT TOO, AND
IT'S IMPORTANT, YOU KNOW ABOUT THE WEATHER, MARK, I WOULD NEVER
THINK OF DRY LIGHTNING, LIKE A FUNDER STORM UNACCOMPANIED BY
RAIN, AND WHAT I HAZARD THAT OBVIOUSLY IS -- IS IT A
THUNDERSTORM IF THERE IS NO RAIN, OR IS IT JUST THUNDER?
>>IT'S A FUNDER STORM, AND DRY LIGHTNING IS FAIRLY COMMON.
>>IT MAKES YOU REALIZE THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA, EVEN
THOUGH OBVIOUSLY THERE ARE FIRES, THEY MUST DO A GREAT
JOB WITH FOREST MANAGEMENT.
>>I THINK COMPARED TO PORTUGAL.
>>AND I READ HOW MUCH MORE COMMON THESE LARGE-SCALE FOREST
FIRES ARE BECOMING.
WE COULD SPECULATE ABOUT SOME OF THE BIG
POLITICAL ISSUES THAT MIGHT BE AFFECTING THAT -- CLIMATE CHANGE
-- BUT AS IMPORTANT AS FORCE MANAGEMENT IS, THIS IS SOMETHING
THAT LIKELY IS GOING TO TAKE ON INCREASED IMPORTANCE.
AREAS LIKE
PORTUGAL, OBVIOUSLY, BUT I KNOW SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AREAS HAD
QUITE A FEW FIRES, I'VE DRIVEN THROUGH AND SEEN STILL
SMOLDERING FIRES ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, OBVIOUSLY NOT ANYWHERE
LIKE THIS, BUT IF YOU LOOK AT THE STATS IN NORTH AMERICA IT'S
GOTTEN BAD OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS AND IT'S LIKELY TO
CONTINUE DOWN THAT PATH.
>>AND BY THE WAY THE LAST THING -- [COUGH] CLIMATE CHANGE -- THE
AMPLIFICATION OF THESE EPISODES IS THE DEFINITION OF WHAT
CLIMATE CHANGE WILL DO AS FAR AS YOU CAN SEE THE EFFECTS ON THE
PLANET.
MEANING WHEN YOU TALK TO PEOPLE WHO GO OUT NO, THE
CLIMATE IS ALWAYS CHANGING, IT'S COLD TODAY, WHERE IS YOUR GLOBAL
WARMING NOW?
NO, THE COLD GETS COLDER, THE WARM GETS WARMER,
THIS INTENSE HEAT THAT PRODUCES THESE KINDS OF SITUATIONS, THE
KIND JOHN IS TALKING ABOUT, THE SORT THAT MICHAEL REFERENCED --
THEY WILL BECOME MORE COMMONPLACE.
HURRICANES WILL
BECOME MORE INTENSE.
THE GLOBE IS BEING ROILED BY THESE
CHANGES, AND I THINK WE WILL SEE A LOT MORE OF THIS.
>>I AGREE.
>>AND MARK KNOWS THIS STUFF, PROFESSIONALLY TRAINED AND
EDUCATED IN IT TOO.
IT'S NOT JUST ME SITTING HERE SAYING THE
BOAT POND IN CENTRAL PARK DOESN'T FREEZE OVER ANYMORE
WHERE I USED TO SKATE --
>>DOES IT NOT?
>>MY MOTHER SAYS IT DOESN'T.
>>I FIND THAT TO BE MORE PERSUASIVE THAN ALL OF HIS
METEOROLOGICAL STUFF.
>>THAT'S A GOOD POINT.
>>I DON'T KNOW THAT EXPERTISE HAS EVER CARRIED LESS WEIGHT IN
OUR COUNTRY AS IT DOES TODAY, BUT WE ARE GLAD ALWAYS TO HAVE
--
>>_TO DENY THE SCIENTIST IN
THE MIDDLE.