Hello, dear readers. This is a short read ahead of the holiday weekend which will find me with family, all of whom are oblivious to or in denial of climate change. I will be forced to put on a false face, smile and be patient with conversation that denies what the future holds, because ultimately the planet decides, not Donald Trump and his fascist brigade. If you live in the Western United States, please take care. Wildfires are roaring, and the landscape is tinder. Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday.
The Cottonwood Fire in Utah started Monday, June 22. In just a little over a week it has spread to nearly 94,000 acres and as of the 29th was only four percent contained. 94,000 acres is the size of Denver.
This is not the only fire to ravage Utah in 2026. There has been the Iron Fire, 41,842 acres, the Babylon Fire, over 70,375 acres, the Cherry Fire in 34,252 acres and the Grapevine and Hastings fires, both exceeding 26,000 acres.
The Hastings Fire is 100 percent contained, but the Babylon Fire is zero percent contained. Percentages vary. In total, Utah has suffered 40 fires this year as mountain snowpack disappears, and fire seasons start ever earlier and last longer. In total, 324,426 acres have burned.
But Utah isn’t even the star of the show. Western states including Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma are burning “bigly” this year. Kansas has lost 193,331 acres, and Oklahoma 207,661 acres. Although Colorado is coming on strong at 837,411 acres, Nebraska is in the lead with 927,159 acres up in smoke. Utah at 324,426 acres clearly needs to try harder. What will the trifecta be? Place your bets on Polymarket or Kalshi. Capitalism is death. Perhaps betting on death is its greatest expression.
Colorado also lost three firefighters trapped by overburn. They were Emily Barker 38, Nick Hutcherson 27, and Sydney Watson, 27.
As far as I’m concerned, every Big Oil executive knowing with remarkable precision from their own scientific studies dating to 1977 (Exxon particularly) should be tried for manslaughter. Every man, woman and child burned, drowned or starved as a result of climate change is evidence. Hell, there’s proof they knew what they were doing by the 1950s.
California, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Wyoming are burning as well of course. It’s hardly worth mentioning, the five of them add up to just 570,803 acres. Whatever. All the states mentioned total just 2,644,867 acres, a trifle compared to 2020.
That’s about 28 Denver sized cities.
2020 featured record-breaking megafires, 10.2 million acres burned, required tens of thousands of firefighters, and caused nearly $20 billion in damages. 37 people died. Poor forest management was a contributor, but increasing drought and longer fire seasons are undeniable now. They make lightning strikes more deadly.
Burning fossil fuels equals dwindling mountain snowpack, the worst megadrought in 1200 years, the last 22 the driest ever, and an atmosphere laden with seven percent more moisture for every 1°C (1.8°F). This figure varies by the complexities of the planet by region, but is causing ever more catastrophic hurricanes, typhoons and flooding as weather patterns shift.
With drought covering 62 percent of the country, AccuWeather is predicting 5.5 to 8 million acres to burn in 2026. We’ve averaged 7 million acres since 2000.
With a “super” El Niño on the way, this article is from James Hansen who first warned Congress of our peril from climate change in 1988.
AccuWeather opines:
NOAA CPC issued an El Niño Advisory on June 11 — it's officially here. CPC gives a 63% chance of a very strong event by winter, potentially the largest since 1950. ECMWF projects SST anomalies of +3°C by December.
Here are some photos of the fire in the Pueblo Colorado area. If you’re in the west or any state suffering from drought, and you see someone with fireworks, hit them in the head with a fire extinguisher. Tell them Geoff said you could.
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