Are man-made forest fires a hoax?

Question

I heard Rush say the other day that lightning causes all forest fires as part of a natural cycle of forest rejuvenation, so rumors of people starting forest fires are false.

Also, Rush and a couple other scientists said the same thing applies to rumors of man-made global warming. Why? Because if something is caused by nature, ONLY nature can cause that thing, EVER.

Putting the question another way, was the whole Smokey Bear ad campaign socialist propaganda from the environmentalist wing of the U.S. Forest Service? I just want to know where my tax dollars are going.

(urnil fnepnfz)

Answer 1

Yes. Also it's impossible to kill a person by shooting them. People died naturally long before guns were invented, therefore all deaths are natural. Therefore everyone in prison who was convicted for shooting another person should be set free immediately.

Answer 2

Not sure about it being a socialist campaign, but it was ill-conceived. Honestly, if a little cigarrette is going to cause a forest fire, then lightning will have no problems doing the same. Further, it was our whole campaign to stop all forest fires, that caused the underbrush to become overgrown and us to have huge forest fires that we could no longer control. That smokey the bear campaign caused more problems than it solved. Which is actually pretty typical when people jump onboard an idea without thinking. Another example is that they are trying to save horses and place them out into the wild. No one seems to be concerned with the fact that the horses have no natural predators in the places they will be introduced, and thus will overpopulate the locations to a point of causing serious problems in the future. We need to stop thinking in crisis mode and start making intelligent changes where we are working towards constant and consistent improvements. This is how Japan took over the auto industry. This is how you can make changes that have good effects and quickly identify the changes that are having bad effects. THINK DON'T PANIC.

Answer 3

<< Open QuestionShow me another »

Are man-made forest fires a hoax?

I heard Rush say the other day that lightning causes all forest fires as part of a natural cycle of forest rejuvenation, so rumors of people starting forest fires are false.>>



As a skeptic I question whether a fire can burn down a tree.



I remember in the 1970s the scientists were claiming that fires *unburn* trees. (Source: George F. Will column) Now they claim that fires burn trees. They cannot be trusted. I only trust Lyndon LaRouche and Rush Limbaugh.

Answer 4

Did any British person really expect anything else from this PC controlled media that is presently ruining this country ( Oops i meant running i don't know though my first thoughts are the true ones.), If it had been the reverse they would have had a field day and a told you so discussion every day on TV , As it is they will keep very quiet and still give the odd hint that it was true.

Answer 5

Rush is always right.



Way back in 1995, Rush PROVED that ozone depletion was caused by volcanoes.



Then guess what? That silly silly Nobel Prize Committee gave the 1995 chemistry prize to 3 chemists who pretended to have shown that it was caused by CFCs.



I mean, just because there was fluorine up there, and there's fluorine in CFCs but not in volcanic emissions, doesn't prove anything. Perhaps the fluorine was part of a natural cycle. Moreover, the chemists' work involved (shock, horror) computer models, so I don't understand why anyone ever took it seriously.



The Federal government has been stealing your tax dollars for environmentalists purposes ever since that arch-socialist, Theodore Roosevelt, started designating national parks.



Who needs an environment, anyway?

Answer 6

If you really worry about your tax dollars, look at the military spending. As for forest fires... you now what forests are made of? Wood. Wood burns. People mastered fire a few thousands years ago. People can set fire to stuff. Forests included. That does not mean all fires are man-made. You -and Rush- should get some lessons in basic logic.

And get some education. Read some SCIENTIFIC papers on climate change, before labeling it a hoax.

Answer 7

Are you serious guy? First off with the Global Warming bit. In a random survey done of all scientific journals on the subject of global warming 100 out of 100 agreed that global warming was happening and human beings had a major part in it. However, looking at news articles in major publications and right wing propagandists like Rush you would think there is plenty of arguments about global warming. The major problem in the global warming argument is how much it will end up effecting our environment. Just do a little research and you'll find plenty of facts to support this. Now onto the forest fires. You must think very highly of Rush Limbaugh and regular people or be really naive (or both) to think that all forest fires are made by lightning. Though those kind of forest fires do happen and he is right that they do rejuvenate the forest when they are natural he is just another corrupt person talking politics. He makes his money slandering the truth the way he sees fit because it brings attention to him which means more money. I may sound like a Left looney on here (and I'm not my views on politics are Leftists are idealists who want to make the country it a welfare state, though socialism has work in some areas of the world, and Rightists are realists, however, are corrupt and resist change even when it is necessary...remember the Republican party was created by corporations during the Industrial Age). But you really should find some other program to listen to because I would stake everything I'm worth that Rush is going to give more half truths and whole lies then knowledgeable information.

Answer 8

Have you been outside before? I mean like walked around in nature and stuff. Nature is pretty good at catching fire from my experience.



I was in Yellowstone during some of the more recent widespread fires (not nearly as badly as the 1988 ones though.) I lived in the Midwest for most of my life, where there were controlled burns of prairies that became not-so-controlled. Some forests went up like they were made of matches. Unattended campfires, careless smokers, sparks from train brakes, power lines, criminal intent, fireworks, signal flares... There are all kinds of human-started ways for fires to consume a forest. One thing about human-started fires, however, is that usually someone isn't far away from it when it starts so the response time is better (a lightning-strike fire can go unnoticed for a while depending on the size of the forest.)



I mean think about this: if you go camping (I'm assuming you haven't) what do you do to start a campfire? Start with small things to burn, like pine needles and small sticks and smaller flammables. The things that make up the forest floor, which are the things most likely to come in contact with people normally. Then you move up to logs, which, last I checked, came from trees. The forest is generally made of those. So yes, water content may be different (dried wood burns better) but once kindling gets going and there's a significant source, pretty much anything will burn.



Oh and don't cite Rush for anything meaningful, except maybe draft-dodging. That guy suffers from a debilitating case of rectal-cranial inversion.



(I'm hoping you're a troll and you used Rush's name to get a rise out of people. But sadly there are a lot of people who think like this... Ho hum. Poe's Law.)



Also, urnil fnepnfz? Huh?

Answer 9

Of course there's no such thing as Anthropogenic Forest Fires. I mean forest fires were here long before man even existed and they were caused by the natural thing that has always caused them, lightning strikes. And you know all those species said to be hunted to extinction? Anthropogenic causes of extinction are a scam to increase the cost of winter fur coats. Creatures were going extinct long before man existed. I mean look at the dinosaurs! And there are far too many animals for man to even make a dent in their population.



Edit:It's amazing how many people in this thread don't realize this is a jab at the stupid argument when denialists say "The climate has always changed, therefor man-made climate change is a hoax"

Answer 10

...

There are man-made forest fires. Some are controlled fires set to wipe out brush to prevent uncontrolled forest fires. Abandoned camp fires and the like cause fires when left unattended in forests during a dry spell. There have even been cases when arsonists cause uncontrolled forest fires on purpose. Just look it up on google, it's not hard. Limbaugh expects you to believe whatever he gives you, no matter how far he had to reach into his *** to find it.



Socialist propoganda? How the hell are Smokey Bear ads socialist? They ask you to put out your campfires and cigarette butts so that a forest fire won't start. How does that translate to government regulated economics?



Nature creates atoms and energy. So I guess we never used nuclear fission to make atoms and energy. Nature makes electricity. So I guess we never invented the dynamo. Nature made magnetic material. I guess we never induced magnetic fields. And nature creates fire by setting forests on fire with lightning. We create fire by striking matches.

Answer 11

No, it's real. Forest fires r totally true

Answer 12

Rush is not a scientist. Please write "Rush and a couple of scientists . . ." Please *name* the "scientists"



Please name the sponsors of Rush's program, so that we may all rush out and buy the items which will pay for this wisdom. (LOL)



It seems to me that sometimes Rush (and newspaper editors) sometimes "troll" their readers (listeners) to get more attention.



It *is* now acknowledged that *some* fire is needed in certain ecosystems to regenerate the forest, and some fires are man-made (or set) for this purpose. Very few of your tax dollars go to the Forest Service.

Answer 13

Arson fires in forest and grasslands are very real and numerous..... especially in California.

Answer 14

It is amazing how many people accept what you say without question. What is it about alarmists that they will accept the most ridiculous idiocy without question, as long as it is supports their beliefs.



Rush sometimes says that humor requires at least a little truth. You therefore didn't achieve humor. As Rush would say, you should leave it to the professionals.

Answer 15

Forest fires are not a hoax. But global warming beyond the natural warming of the Earth is indeed a hoax, perpetrated by that liberal lunatic Al Gore.



Sadly, Gore also claimed to have "invented the Internet" and more recently he has failed to sustain his marriage and has also turned into a fat slob.

Answer 16

Your analogy is tired but appropriate. It's amazing that people here can't recognize it for the obvious piece of humor that it is.