The fires showcase several challenges that Hawaii shares with states in the West, including the spread of highly flammable invasive grasses, authorities in Hawaii also cite other factors that make Hawaii unique. Hawaii may be graced with tropical forests, making parts of the islands some of the wettest places on the planet, but it is also increasingly vulnerable to wildfires. While the fires showcase several challenges that Hawaii shares with states in the West, including the spread of highly flammable invasive grasses, authorities in Hawaii also cite other factors that make Hawaii unique. Even before the latest surge, the area burned annually in Hawaii by wildfires had already climbed fourfold from previous decades, according to Clay Trauernicht, a tropical fire specialist at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. On Molokai, Hawaii’s fifth-largest island, residents are fretting about dry conditions after hundreds of axis deer were found dead of starvation last year.

Source: Indian Express July 06, 2021 05:09 UTC