Wrong, Associated Press, There Is No Evidence That Climate Change Is Inducing Wildfires That Threaten Farm Workers
By
Linnea Lueken
August 22, 2024
An article by the Associated Press (AP) claims that wildfires are getting worse due to climate change, which is causing farm workers more exposure to wildfire smoke and potential harm to their health. This is false. Wildfires are not getting worse, so farmers and laborers cannot be more exposed to smoke or particulates for that reason.
In the AP article, “Wildfires are growing under climate change, and their smoke threatens farmworkers, study says,” the deception is clear and immediate. The study referred to in the title is a health survey about air quality monitoring in mandatory wildfire evacuation zones, and the abstract paragraph asserts that wildfires are getting worse due to climate change, but offers no evidence of this. The only explanation given for the claim is that wildfire intensity and frequency “are predicted to increase with global warming.” The study also claims that the 2020 California wildfire season was “unprecedented” –which is false, as Climate Realism explained at the time, here. Their baseless claim gave cover for the AP to write the following:
As climate change increases the frequency and intensity of wildfires around the world, a new study shows that farmworkers are paying a heavy price by being exposed to high levels of air pollution. And in Sonoma County, the focus of the work, researchers found that a program aimed at determining when it was safe to work during wildfires did not adequately protect farmworkers.
https://climaterealism.com/2024/08/wrong-associated-press-there-is-no-evidence-that-climate-change-is-inducing-wildfires-that-threaten-farm-workers/
