Maui wildfires burn through Lahaina – it's a reminder of the growing risk to communities that once seemed safe

• The U.S. Coast Guard rescued several people from the waters off Lahaina who were trying to escape the smoke and flames.
• Fires have become an increasing risk in many areas of the U.S. that people once considered safe.
• That number – people directly exposed to wildfires – more than doubled from 2000 to 2019, my team’s recent research shows.
• Instead, three-quarters of this trend was driven by intense fires growing out of control and encroaching on existing communities.

What climate change has to do with wildfires

• Recent research on California’s fires found that almost all of the increase in that state’s burned area in recent decades was due to anthropogenic climate change – meaning climate change caused by human activities.
• Our new research looked beyond just the area burned and asked: Where were people exposed to wildfires, and why?

Where wildfire exposure was highest

• If you picture wildfire photos taken from a plane, fires generally burn in patches rather than as a wall of flame.
• Three-quarters of the 125% increase in exposure was due to fires increasingly encroaching on existing communities.
• In California, the state with the most people exposed to fires, several wildfire catastrophes hit communities that had existed long before 2000.

What communities can do to lower the risk

• Studies have shown that even in conservative scenarios, the amount of area that burns in Western wildfires is projected to grow in the next few decades.
• Communities will have to both adapt to more wildfires and take steps to mitigate the impact.