How dangerous climate conditions fueled Maui's devastating wildfires
CBSN
Hawaii went from lush to bone dry and thus more fire-prone in a matter of just a few weeks — a key factor in a dangerous mix of conditions appear to have combined to make the deadly wildfires that blazed a path of destruction in Hawaii particularly damaging.
Experts say climate change is increasing the likelihood of these flash droughts as well as other extreme weather events like what's playing out on the island of Maui, where scores of people have been killed and a historic town devastated.
"It's leading to these unpredictable or unforeseen combinations that we're seeing right now and that are fueling this extreme fire weather," said Kelsey Copes-Gerbitz, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of British Columbia's faculty of forestry. "What these ... catastrophic wildfire disasters are revealing is that nowhere is immune to the issue."
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