By Gloria Dickie, Clare Trainor, Daisy Chung and Travis Hartman LONDON (Reuters) - The wildfire that ripped through Lahaina last week, reducing what ...
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THESE SALTWIRE VIDEOSBy Gloria Dickie, Clare Trainor, Daisy Chung and Travis Hartman
The state normally relies on the La Nina climate pattern to deliver quenching rains during winter. But the three-year La Nina that ended in 2022 didn't deliver as much rain as expected — continuing a 30-year trend which has recorded rainfall declining by about 30% during Hawaii's wet season. At the same time, a strong high pressure system to the north of Hawaii sent a prevailing east-northeast wind called Moa'e or A'eloa that swept down and across the leeward side of Maui.
During this time, wildfires were less common — and those that occurred were often sparked by lightning or lava and burning ash spewed from volcanic eruptions. And so African grasses took over, including buffel grass and guinea grass, which had been introduced to the islands as pasture for livestock. Today, over 90% of Hawaii's native dry forests have disappeared, and non-native grasses cover roughly a quarter of the state, according to scientists.
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