Hawaii's wildfires are the latest reminder of a costly new normal in many places when it comes to extreme weather linked in part to climate change.
Hawaii’s wildfires are the latest reminder that it’s a new normal in many places when it comes to extreme weather linked partly to climate change. And those changes are increasingly costly to health and economic resilience.
Global warming is “leading to these unpredictable or unforeseen combinations that we’re seeing right now and that are fueling this extreme fire weather,” Kelsey Copes-Gerbitz, a forestry researcher at the University of British Columbia, told the Associated Press. “What these … catastrophic wildfire disasters are revealing is that nowhere is immune to the issue.”
“Climate change doesn’t usually start the fires; but it intensifies them, increasing the area they burn and making them much more dangerous,” she tweeted. “How [climate change disaster] translates to financial sector risk — and pending risk disclosure regulations — are the key questions heading into the autumn,” said Callaway.
Related: Homeowners can check a property’s flood, heat and wildfire risk for free with this high-powered app Where to next? Climate scientists have been sounding the alarm bell for years, warning that not only are climate-driven wildfires burning bigger, hotter and faster, but they’re emerging in landscapes and during seasons in which they were previously rare.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
For Hawaii’s football team, Maui wildfires bring feelings of loss, purposeThe Rainbow Warriors’ preparations for their upcoming season were jolted by the devastation in Lahaina and elsewhere on an island that two players call home.
Read more »
Death toll in Hawaii wildfire rises to 111 as hundreds remain unaccounted forThe governor announced the new figure at a news conference Wednesday that got heated at several points as authorities sought to defend their response to the fire.
Read more »
Hawaii vows to protect landowners on Maui from pressure to sell after wildfiresHawaii's governor has vowed to protect local landowners from being
Read more »
Maui wildfire: Disasters more likely in California or Texas, not HawaiiThe nation’s deadliest wildfire – with 100-plus fatalities on Maui as the count grows – came in a state known for its natural beauty, not natural disasters.
Read more »