Despite the devastation, already the usual media outlets, like The New York Times and National Public Radio, are saying (without evidence) climate change caused the wildfires in Maui, Hawaii. But did it? To their credit, USA Today essentially said it is better to not jump to conclusions or make rash judgements.

Wildfires have quadrupled in Hawaii in recent decades, and many scientists say the culprit is unmanaged, nonnative grasslands planted by plantations and ranchers and others unfamiliar with the island’s native ecosystems. The grass is dry and prone to fires.

“There is no doubt that fire-prone grasses have invaded drier Hawaiian ecosystems and brought larger, more intense fires,” said Peter Vitousek, a professor of earth sciences at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.

Though Hawaiian officials are still unsure about the cause of the wildfires, professor of natural resources and environmental management at the University of Hawaii at Manoa Dr. Clay Trauernicht offered his assessment.

Five years ago, Dr. Trauernicht revealed that the yearly wildfires has quadrupled in recent years resulting from unmanaged grasslands that were used for agriculture (like cultivating sugar cane and pineapple) but have expanded quite a bit. In a series of tweets he posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) he wrote:

These savannas now cover about a million acres across the main Hawaiian islands, mostly the legacy of land clearing for plantation agriculture and ranching in the late 1800s/early 1900s.

Hawaii’s fire problem could be far, far more manageable with adequate support, planning and resources for fuel reduction projects, agricultural land use and restoration and reforestation around communities and the foot of our forests.

Most likely the cause of the fire was either intentional, careless handling of a flammable product (like improper extinguishing of campfires or even cigarettes), or a lightning strike. The tragedies resulting from the wildfire was the result of grassland mismanagement, not climate change.

Below is a video the devastation many legacy media outlets danced upon.

PHOTO CREDIT: Pixabay