Trump-aligned congresspeople aren’t spreading wildfire disinformation in a vacuum; American social media giants are enabling a haze of conspiracy theories and misinformation about the wildfires ravaging Canadian forests, and are disguising the fossil fuel industry’s role in the crisis, researchers have found.
Link above is to CAAD’s (Climate Action Against Disinformation) - Briefing: Canadian Wildfire Disinformation June 2025
“The posts promoted numerous conspiracy theories — asserting the fires were primarily caused by arson…”
Well, according to our own government, more than 2/3 of wildfires ARE started by humans, but not necessarily arson. We are a sloppy lot, and untended campfires, thrown cigarette butts, even sparks from train wheels, and downed power lines are all culprits. But it IS mostly humans, not mother nature doing the most damage.
But the distinction is a very important one.
The conspiracy nut jobs are claiming that the fires are intentionally set for some nefarious purpose, and that is a blatant lie.
We need to stay vigilant at pushing back against these conspiratorial lies.
Thats true. But SOME of it IS arson, just not the large majority. Its hard to stop the disinformation when there’s a kernel of truth.
And why is it so dry that these fires rage completely out of control?
Also humans! Checkmate! 😀 🤨 🤔 🫢 😞
Yes its a couple of degrees warmer than it used to be. But that’s hardly the major story. The fact is that we dont do much active fire management in Canada and we’re way behind the curve.
Its a little known fact that fire is GOOD for promoting regrowth and rejuvenation in forests. In fact there are some species of trees that actually dont open their seeds until they are touched by fire. Lodgepole pine, Jack Pine, and Pitch Pine are notable examples that have serotinous cones sealed with resin, which melts and opens only when exposed to the heat of a fire. Who knew?
And who knew that indigenous peoples used to regularly start forest fires to rejuvenate the land, cleaning out all the old underbrush and deadfall and making the forest safe for years to come? But along came us settlers and we thought its better to just leave the forest alone. Wrong.
We actually had a wildfire come within 30 feet of our house two years ago. The efforts of a dedicated group of firefighters saved it, but three of my neighbors lost theirs. The forest looked terrible for a few months. But by the next summer it was already very green and THIS summer it looks amazing. There are already 5 foot tall trees where there was only black ground two years ago. The grass and trees look amazingly green and lush. And there is NO underbrush so the chances of another fire are pretty much zero for at least another 20 years.
IF the gov had an active forest management plan, with controlled forest burns, after carefully creating fire breaks around nearby populated areas, we wouldn’t have wildly out of control fires every year that threaten people’s homes and make the air hard to breathe.
Its not all about “climate change”, MOST of the problem is poor management. And careless people.
It’s science we explain to literal 5 year olds. That’s been saying it would happen like this since the 1970’s you absolute ignoramus.
If it’s not about “climate change” and it’s about poor management then I guess we got worse at managing it proportional to the accumulation of GHGs in the atmosphere. What a coincidence.
You’re talking about a possible mitigation strategy as if the lack of extra mitigation is the root cause. Token acknowledgments of “climate change” and “yeah it’s a bit warmer” are thin veils on your denialism
I thought agreed to stop making humans this stupid. How did you get past quality control?