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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Oliver Milman

Devastating Hawaii fires made ‘much more dangerous’ by climate change

A man walks past wildfire wreckage on Wednesday, in Lahaina, Hawaii.
A man walks past wildfire wreckage on Wednesday, in Lahaina, Hawaii. Photograph: Tiffany Kidder Winn/AP

The devastating fires in Hawaii, where at least 55 people have died after a conflagration that engulfed the historic town of Lahaina, were worsened by a number of factors including the climate crisis, scientists have said.

Rising global temperatures and drought have helped turn parts of Hawaii into a tinderbox ahead of one of the deadliest fires in modern US history, with these conditions worsened by strong winds from a nearby cyclone.

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