On August 10th of 2023, a wildfire broke out on the beloved Hawaiian island of Maui. The fire was and is so fast moving that people are jumping off of docks in a desperate attempt to escape the scorching hot fire. The fire is taking an increasingly large amount of lives, and destroying a historically significant and cherished city, Lahaina. People also took shelter buses to the Kahului airport, where 1,400 people waited overnight for a flight to take them off the hazardous island. As the number of fatalities has risen to 53 as of right now, this may be named one of Hawaii’s most tragic and significant natural disasters.

Several factors contributed to this horrific disaster. As climate change encourages flash droughts in dry areas such as Maui, these droughts make the perfect feeding ground for wildfires to spread- and quickly at that. In May, Maui was not necessarily abnormally dry. However, as the summer unfolded, Maui became drier and drier to the point where this week, 83% of the island was in either moderate or severe drought, according to the United States drought monitor. Jasin Otkin, an atmospheric scientist, conducted a study that proved that flash droughts such as these are becoming increasingly common as human-induced climate change is taking a toll on the natural state of many areas.

Drought was not the only culprit in causing these fires. Invasive grasses also played a significant role in the spreading of the wildfire. In the past, large sections of Hawaiian land was utilized by sugarcane and pineapples, but now, as the businesses who implemented this came to a decline, a fire-prone grass species was laid down in place. The problem is not only that the grass is fire-prone, but that when fires do happen and forests are burned down, that land is then replaced with the same fire-prone grass. It’s just a cycle of disaster, then doing nothing to prevent it.

To make things even worse, the staggering difference in air pressure basically acted as a giant, mega fan to disperse the fire all over the island. Hurricane Dora, which passed south of the island last week, created winds so strong and abnormal air pressures which ultimately caused the wildfire to spread at an abnormal rate. Although the hurricane was relatively far from Maui, it still had a great effect on the fire, making it an unexpected event.

Overall, several factors led to the disastrous wildfire that was and still is spreading throughout the island of Maui. Although this is indeed a natural disaster, it’s evident that there is a connection between human action and the cause of the fire. Human induced climate change and the laying down of fire-prone grass are both factors that we can do something about. It’s important to recognize the few things that us humans can do to at least try and prevent such disasters from occurring again.

<Eunice Ra Reedy High School / 11th Grade>