fires in Hawaii that killed at least a hundred people, and likely far more, were made worse by the climate crisis, which has led to a rise in temperatures at the same time Hawaii is facing a drought. This was amplified by Hurricane Dora Tuesday, when it passed south of Hawaii, hundreds of miles away, as a Category 4 storm, quickly spread the fire. Climate change is also linked to stronger hurricanes.
Last week, the scientist Michael Mann wrote on social media, “What we’re seeing in #Maui is a ‘compound’ climate catastrophe, where an immediate factor (in this case, unusually strong winds from the outer bands of a passing hurricane) interact w/ background state (extreme drought that has been in place for a month).”
Michael Mann joins us now, presidential distinguished professor and director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media at the University of
— source democracynow.org | Aug 14, 2023