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'Australia is sleepwalking': a bushfire scientist explains what the Hawaii tragedy means for our flammable continent (theconversation.com)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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As I hear reports of the fire tearing through the Hawaiian island of Maui, I feel utterly depressed.

Maui's deadly wildfires burn through Lahaina – it's a reminder of the growing risk to communities that once seemed safe. The Maui fires have been fuelled by strong winds, dry vegetation and low humidity.

Australians must heed the warnings Australia, too, is fast becoming a continent of more uncontrolled fire.

It’s vital that we slash greenhouse gas emissions as quickly as possible, to stabilise Earth’s climate.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I lived in Hawaii on the big island for a few years around 2005. This has shocked me. I remember getting off the plane and the air being so wet and humid that when you used the bathroom for the first time the toilet paper felt damp.

Everything was damp. It rained twice a day every day.

How have these islands managed to dry out enough to sustain a wildfire?!

It's terrifying.

I now live in Australia and the fires here have already been so bad. If Hawaii has changed that much, what are we in for?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I was thinking, before I heard which island ,that it could be like a rain shadow, more arid island of mostly grass. But no, a tropical island and I could see burnt Ficus.

I guess like NNSW rainforest burning, more of this to come. When ecologists say that climate change is moving faster than plants can keep up, this is one of the effects; forest burning that has no right to burn. More biodiversity loss.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The islands have different humidities. Oahu is much more dry than the big island and hardly rains, Maui has a dry side which is the side on fire now. It also rains more on the east side of the big island which is where you most likely visited. Hawaii has not changed as much as you imply.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Kona side was definitely drier, but not dry enough for a wildfire. I cannot think of one happening during the years we were there, or later while family was still there. Maybe small fires started by dumb kids?

The islands are indeed all different, but they are all tropical and now seem to be becoming drier. The same is happening here in Queensland Australia.

The rainfall maps here seem to show all the islands have relatively similar rainfall and patterns, which makes sense.

http://rainfall.geography.hawaii.edu/assets/images/mean_ann_rf_statemm.jpg

Here is a site that has been tracking rainfall in Hawaii since records began, and the trend is showing less and less rain.

http://rainfall.geography.hawaii.edu/rainfall.html

There are likely a few causes, but the fact that Hawaii has changed in the last 15 years is just that - a fact. Not an opinion.

You can check their sister sites on climate in Hawaii for more interesting information about these changes.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Kona is on the big island, I'm not sure what you mean? It would surprise me if the big island caught on fire (not caused by lava) but it did not change so much in 20 years that wildfires happen on the east side of the big island. I never said the climate has never changed, I said it did not change as much as he implied. Areas with a lot of rainfall are not catching on fire. I checked your images and they confirm what I've been saying about the diversity of the islands. I think it's wrong to compare them that way, climate change is happening but not like that.

Btw I decided to ask my partner about this and wildfires in kona and kohala on the big island have been a worry for years, there's even signs posted.