West’s wildfires have long been studied and even predicted
The late Stephen Schneider put forward some possible future scenarios in his 1989 book, “Global Warming.” He wrote that California’s biggest concern would be “the frequent episodes of smoky sky … a constant reminder of the growing intensity and scale of wildfires,” with early dry seasons and hot summers increasing the fire potential. Recent days and years have proved Schneider correct. Present-day studies from Stanford University confirm the growing risk of large, rapidly growing wildfires as a result of a warming climate. Both Schneider and modern studies acknowledge the adverse effect of improper land-use management, but it is widely accepted the changing climate plays a major role in exacerbating these deadly and costly disasters. Recently, Forbes magazine asked, “Is anybody listening? How much longer will we continue to ignore the impact of our continued refusal to do anything to mitigate the planet’s long-standing climate emergency?” Dr. Schneider would undoubtedly agree with everyone’s frustration.
DAVID GREENLAND, SANDY SPRINGS
AJC is overdoing it with incessant COVID-19 news coverage
What used to be a morning pleasure is now just miserable! Back then, I could start each morning with the digital AJC on my iPad and a large cup of black coffee and methodically work my way from the headlines on page 1 to the ads at the end. Now it’s COVID-19 in the A section, COVID-19 in Metro, Sports has COVID-19 testing of a sports team, followed by Living, which now means – according to the AJC – Living with COVID-19. Enough! Georgia has had 6,000 deaths supposedly from COVID-19 out of a population base of 11 million. That’s a death rate of about .0005% of that total population. That means a survival rate of 99.9994% of the Georgia population. All the AJC is doing is running a campaign to destroy the confidence of Georgians and convince all that they’re going to die. Enough, and shame on you!
GENE HENRY, ATLANTA
