{"id":272977,"date":"2023-08-12T11:37:58","date_gmt":"2023-08-12T09:37:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=272977"},"modified":"2023-08-12T11:38:01","modified_gmt":"2023-08-12T09:38:01","slug":"hawaiian-fires-fueled-by-invasive-grasses-a-wet-spring-and-human-ignition-sources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=272977","title":{"rendered":"Hawaiian Fires: Fueled by Invasive Grasses, a Wet Spring and Human Ignition Sources"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From The CO2<\/sub>\u00a0Coalition<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By James Steele<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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Figure 1 \u2013 Created by Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Maui fire would have devastated Lahaina in a colder or warmer climate. It would have devastated Lahaina in high or low CO2<\/sub>\u00a0concentrations. The key is managing the dead grasses that become flammable in just hours. Climate change was irrelevant. Declaring a climate emergency to reduce fossil fuels is a useless remedy that only misdirects funds that will be needed to better manage a fire-prone landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The massive destruction and loss of life in Lahaina, Hawaii due to the recent wildfire has evoked tremendous compassion and concern from around the world for the people of Lahaina. I can\u2019t comprehend the intense pain now being felt by the people who have lost loved ones, lost homes, and lost all their belongings. So how can such a tragedy be prevented from ever happening again?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First,\u00a0according to meteorologist Cliff Mass<\/a>, Hawaii is one of the most fire-prone states in the U.S. (see Figure 1 for some historical fires).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lightning is rare on Maui. Fewer than thirty thunderstorms rattle across the Hawaiian Islands each year, and most occur during January and February. Accordingly, there have been no reports of an August lightning strike, so it seems doubtful this tragic fire was started naturally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization, 98% of all Hawaiian fires are started by people, of which 75% are due to carelessness.\u00a0 Thus, a Smokey-the-Bear type campaign that \u201conly you can prevent forest fires\u201d would help raise people\u2019s consciousness, especially newcomers.\u00a0 As retirees flock to Hawaii seeking the health benefits of a warmer climate, the population has tripled since 1980, which only increases the probability of a careless fire being started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If started by an electrical spark, efforts to secure a vulnerable electrical grid is required. Sadly, the remaining fires have been suspiciously ignited by arsonists, and arson is nearly impossible to prevent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, there are other precautions that Hawaiians can take to prevent the rapid spread of fire that caught so many people in Lahaina by surprise.\u00a0 Dr. Clay Trauernicht, a professor of natural resources and environmental management at the University of Hawaii, notes wildfires have quadrupled in Hawaii in recent decades. \u00a0We agree with his assessment that unmanaged, nonnative grasslands that have flourished in Hawaii after decades of declining agriculture have provided the fuel for more rapidly spreading and extensive wildfires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Maui\u2019s pineapple and sugar cane plantations were abandoned, they became dominated by invasive annual grasses that flourish in disturbed soils. Fire experts categorize such small diameter grasses as 1-hour lag fuels, meaning that within half a day of dry weather, these grasses become highly flammable, allowing fires to rapidly spread in even moderate winds. Annual grasses typically die during the dry seasons. Maui\u2019s\u00a0rainless<\/em>\u00a0period typically lasts from\u00a0about\u00a0May 25\u00a0to\u00a0July 15<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, Lahaina is situated on the leeward side of Maui\u2019s mountains. These highlands wring out the moisture carried by the trade winds, with only 15\u201d of rain falling in Lahaina compared to 300\u201d on the mountains to the east. Thus, Lahaina\u2019s surrounding grassland vegetation is primed each summer to rapidly burn once ignited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Figure 2 Precipitation Departure NOAA \u2013 Courtesy Cliff Mass<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Counterintuitively, wet seasons create higher fire danger by increasing the abundance of dead grasses for the dry season. Spring of 2023 was cooler and wetter than normal (Figure 2), leading to high grass fuel load.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast, dry seasons have little impact, as the dead invasive grasses become highly flammable quickly every season. Thus, the only protective measure for Lahaina\u2019s future requires managing the grasslands as well as creating firebreaks that suppress a grass fire\u2019s rapid invasion into the town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firebreaks protecting the whole town are especially important. If a grassfire reaches just one house in a densely packed neighborhood, such as much of Lahaina, that one house will radiate enough heat to ignite its neighboring house, which then sets off a cascading conflagration that can destroy a whole town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CO2<\/sub>\u00a0Coalition\u2019s scientists caution against adopting useless remedies such as that proposed by the national director of the Green New Deal Network, who demanded that \u201cPresident Biden declare a climate emergency and activate politicians to take further climate action.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James Steele<\/a>\u00a0is a biologist, author and former director of San Francisco State University\u2019s Sierra Nevada Field Campus. He is a proud member of the\u00a0CO2<\/sub>\u00a0Coalition<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Maui fire would have devastated Lahaina in a colder or warmer climate. It would have devastated Lahaina in high or low CO2\u00a0concentrations. The key is managing the dead grasses that become flammable in just hours. Climate change was irrelevant. Declaring a climate emergency to reduce fossil fuels is a useless remedy that only misdirects funds that will be needed to better manage a fire-prone landscape.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":272985,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691821789,691821788,691821542,691821790,691818913],"class_list":{"0":"post-272977","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-fire","9":"tag-hawaii","10":"tag-jim-steele","11":"tag-lahaina","12":"tag-wildfires","14":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-485.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-190R","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":288924,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=288924","url_meta":{"origin":272977,"position":0},"title":"\u201cClimate expert\u201d Michael Mann blatantly misinformed public about Maui\u2019s Lahaina fire.","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"27\/11\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"By Jim Steele Just one day after the tragic Lahaina fire, Michael Mann fearmongered a tweet, \u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing in #Maui is a \u201ccompound\u201dclimate catastrophe.\u201d So the far-left socialist news organization, DemocracyNow, eagerly interviewed Michael Mann to hype that a climate crisis drove the fire\u2019s devastation. Mann obliged, suggesting the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate Catastrophe\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate Catastrophe","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-catastrophe"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/0F_jj-rIb0AAqiqI.jpeg?fit=1200%2C849&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/0F_jj-rIb0AAqiqI.jpeg?fit=1200%2C849&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/0F_jj-rIb0AAqiqI.jpeg?fit=1200%2C849&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/0F_jj-rIb0AAqiqI.jpeg?fit=1200%2C849&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/0F_jj-rIb0AAqiqI.jpeg?fit=1200%2C849&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":274141,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=274141","url_meta":{"origin":272977,"position":1},"title":"After a False Start, Mainstream Media Largely Reports Accurately on Maui Wildfire","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"17\/08\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"As has become a far too common knee jerk reaction as natural disasters occur, mainstream media outlets, like\u00a0Bloomberg\u00a0and\u00a0the Los Angeles Times, for example, were quick to blame climate change for the Maui wildfire and its horrific consequences. They were wrong, and for once, perhaps because of the sobering death toll,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate Alarmists\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate Alarmists","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-alarmists"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0maui-wildfire-c.jpg?fit=1200%2C625&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0maui-wildfire-c.jpg?fit=1200%2C625&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0maui-wildfire-c.jpg?fit=1200%2C625&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0maui-wildfire-c.jpg?fit=1200%2C625&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0maui-wildfire-c.jpg?fit=1200%2C625&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 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