Kirsebærplukking om skogbranner

Kirsebærplukking om skogbranner refers to Bjørn Lomborg's criticism of climate change reporting. The Danish politician has been spreading the message that the climate crisis is exaggerated, and that spending money on attempts to mitigate it is not worth it. This stance has been his for over four decades. Lomborg recently published an article in E24 on August 20th, where he aimed to reassure those concerned about forest fires engulfing Europe.

In reality, he claims that global forest fires are at their lowest levels in history, citing satellite data showing a significant decrease in the total burned area compared to previous centuries. However, this argument is misleading, as the reduced global burned area is primarily due to less biomass burning in Africa's savannas and South America's grasslands, which are increasingly converted to intensive agriculture and grazing.

Comparing this to a decrease in bicycle theft in Oslo is an oversimplification, as the real threat comes from the combination of prolonged drought, heatwaves, deforestation, and the spread of highly flammable monoculture forests. The problem is that large burn areas in lower latitudes, which often cause limited damage, have been replaced by smaller but much more intense forest fires in higher latitudes.

These forests contain vast amounts of biomass, both in trees and the soil, leading to deeper burns, greater destruction, and the release of massive amounts of greenhouse gases. Forest fires are just one of many indicators of human-induced global warming, alongside rising sea levels, ocean acidification, flooding, extreme heatwaves, and the thawing of permafrost.

Lomborg emphasizes the need for extensive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and a significant increase in local and regional climate adaptation measures, areas where there is agreement with him.