In the news of the New York Times, it was noted that the main reason for the forest fires in Hawaii is climate change, although it is far from the dry land that triggered the fires.
Referring to a study conducted by scientists from the Universities of Hawaii and Colorado in 2015, it was stated that Hawaii experienced a long-term decrease in the annual average rainfall.
It has been reported that the amount of precipitation received in the rainy season has decreased by 31 percent since the 1990s, while a decrease of 6 percent has been observed in the precipitation received in the dry season.
Climate scientist Abby Frazier from Clark University, who works on Hawaii, stated that many factors are effective in this change in precipitation, and climate change plays a role in all of these factors.
Expressing that the weather phenomenon with high precipitation, called the La Nina effect, has caused less precipitation since the 1980s, Frazier emphasized that the other factors are the thinning of the clouds over Hawaii with the increase in temperatures and the decrease in the amount of precipitation they bring to the islands as the big storms move north over time.
According to data released by the US drought watchdog, almost 16 percent of the island of Maui, where forest fires continue, experiences severe drought, while 20 percent of the region has moderate drought.
It has been noted that some of the local vegetation has been destroyed due to forest fires, which have become common with the drought in Hawaii, and this vegetation has been replaced by invasive grasses that can catch fire quickly.
Maui Island declared disaster area
U.S. President Joe Biden declared Maui a disaster area due to 3 major fires in the forest area of the Hawaiian island of Maui.
Stressing that the damages of those affected by the fires will be compensated, Biden said that the number of emergency personnel on the Island has been increased.
Due to the fires in the forest area of Maui Island, Hawaii, USA, 36 people died, many were injured and many properties were damaged.