Spain Wildfire Kills 12, Forces 1K to Evacuate
Is El Niño a devastating sign of accelerating climate change or just routine weather variability blown out of proportion?
Above: View of the forest fire in Imarcoain, Navarre, Spain, on July 5. Image credit: Eduardo Sanz/Europa Press/Getty Images
The Spin
Climate-concerned narrative
An El Niño with over 80% odds of hitting is a massive warning sign that climate change is accelerating. With a 97% chance of lasting until next spring, the consequences for global weather patterns and warming could be devastating. Dismissing this as routine ignores the scale of what's coming.
Climate-skeptic narrative
No climate model has reliably predicted specific regional weather patterns using emissions data, so calling every wildfire a climate crisis is a stretch. Weather has always been chaotic and variable long before carbon became a political talking point. Until the models actually prove predictive accuracy, the alarmism deserves serious skepticism.
