French firefighters face 'pyrocumulonimbus' for first time • Hacker News Board

Re: French firefighters face 'pyrocumulonimbus' for first time

#391

Post by Loquebantur » Wed, Jul 29, 2026, 1:50 AM UTC

Galanwe wrote: post #374

Loquebantur wrote: post #320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're conceptually wrong about "the theory" and factually about the majority of fires. The fundamental connection increase of CO2 => increase in mean temperature => increase in frequency of high-energy atmospheric events is entirely obvious and well established. CO2 traps heat and heat is energy. Firestorms are an immediate consequence of that and accordingly rise in frequency as well. The idea, such fires would be…

> You're conceptually wrong about "the theory" and factually about the majority of fires. Well then prove me wrong... The BDIFF publishes data of close to 30 years of wildfires reports. If you plot the number of wildfire occurrences per year, you will see a decreasing curve up to 2010, then a constant rise onward, forming a U shape. I don't think you will find any correlation with global warming data there. If you pl…

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Re: French firefighters face 'pyrocumulonimbus' for first time

#392

Post by Loquebantur » Wed, Jul 29, 2026, 1:59 AM UTC

sleet_spotter wrote: post #377

Loquebantur wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is indicative of escalating climate catastrophe is indeed the intensity and frequency of those firestorms, not any lack of precedent for a cloud shape. But the really salient observation is how people individually and their social system as a whole react (or not). Debating the shapes of clouds points to a fundamental dysfunctional disconnect on multiple levels.

The fires being large enough to create their own thunderstorms is a proxy for intensity, hence the significance.

You're right about that, but that's a corner too much to turn for most people.

Re: French firefighters face 'pyrocumulonimbus' for first time

#393

Post by zahlman » Wed, Jul 29, 2026, 7:23 AM UTC

rectang wrote: post #390

zahlman wrote: post #388

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That has not at all been my experience of listening to such people. And, what subsidies ? The fossil fuel companies are just trying not to get legislated out of business, last I checked. In my book the disruptive subsidies are for corn (encouraging irresponsible land use; solar panels in those fields would be far more energy efficient).

I’m as uninterested in debating someone who denies the existence of fossil fuel subsidies as I am in debating climate denialists. I recommend that interested parties perform a trivial web search.

I literally advocated for solar power and you want to be rude to me because you perceive me as an enemy here. Please reconsider.

Re: French firefighters face 'pyrocumulonimbus' for first time

#394

Post by pvaldes » Wed, Jul 29, 2026, 9:41 AM UTC

cineticdaffodil wrote: post #149

kortilla wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Statements like these embolden climate change deniers because they look so panicked beyond reason. Spain isn’t “completely on fire” and Spain frequently has fires like California. You need to quantify in sq km or some other objective unit what makes this so unique.

Spain planted eucalyptus in state forrest. Tha treeis a bomb.

The most common species used does not stand cold and needs a lot of water. This means that they are often restricted to the humid parts of the country near the seashore. They have also owners that seen it as valuable, and regrow as trees, not as a pasture, so unsurprisingly they burn much less than people would expect.

Some very big wildfires with criminally suspicious causes are based on Eucaliptus, but pines and forest regeneration on the low bush state are the worse offenders, as they were actively targeted first by locals and now also by foreigners. Locals hate young bushes of the less flammable species with passion here. They really can't refrain themselves from keep burning it.

Laws that forbid the change of use of land did make a big difference in the past, but are seen as ideological and were revoked by far right politicians. The start of wildfire waves after that move was immediate. This happened a few years ago. One step forward is followed by two steps backward.