Editorial: Consequences of climate change

According to UN, there will be an increase of extreme fires globally by up to 14% by 2030, 30% by the end of 2050 and 50% by the end of the century

The horrific wildfires raging through Hawaii, the deadliest in the United States in the past century, are yet another proof of the deepening climate crisis, much of it man-made. The devastating fires virtually levelled a Hawaiian town of Lahaina in Maui, one of the eight main islands that make up the archipelago, and consumed everything in its path, claiming at least 90 lives. Over the years, Hawaii has lost 1.5 million acres of native forest, which were natural water and climate regulators. Without them, there are bound to be disruptions in weather and temperature patterns. Climate change and forest loss are working together to make Hawaii drier and hotter, a recipe for disaster. Rising global temperatures and drought have helped turn parts of Hawaii into a tinderbox. Nearly a fifth of Maui has experienced other serious fires in recent years, with blazes in 2018 and 2021 razing hundreds of homes and causing the evacuation of thousands of residents and tourists. Degraded forests and changing weather patterns combine to create perfect conditions for fires, often started by human activity, to grow into enormous, uncontrollable blazes. Experts warn that wildfires in Hawaii are now burning through four times the amount of area than in previous decades, in part due to the proliferation of more flammable non-native grasses but also rising global temperatures. The drying out of Hawaii’s landscape is part of a trend affecting rainforests around the globe. Parts of the Amazon rainforest, the biggest in the world, are fast approaching this transition, a point of no return when the humid ecosystem would forever change.

Rainforests are highly sensitive to changes in precipitation. Higher temperatures, drought and changes in rain patterns stress trees, resulting in trunks drying up and leaves falling. Over decades, drought, heat, fire and deforestation can force a rainforest to transition into dry grasslands. One of the big reasons for climate change is the burning of fossil fuel which releases large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, causing global warming. Unprecedented climate events are increasing around the world. In tropical forests, tree loss because of fire has grown 5% on average each year over the past 20 years. According to the United Nations, there will be an increase of extreme fires globally by up to 14% by 2030, 30% by the end of 2050 and 50% by the end of the century. As the planet heats up, no place is protected from disasters. As per the Paris Climate Agreement, the global temperature should not cross 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industry level. International efforts to stick to this threshold have not been successful. Already, the impact of high global mean temperature is evident in the form of extreme climate events including heat, wildfires, and floods. As global warming gathers pace, intense cyclones are making landfall with greater frequency every year.

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