Wildfires and the Effects of Climate Change

Indigenous Communities Are On the Front Lines of Climate Change

Over the last month, two massive wildfires threatened thousands of people in the U.S. and Canada. On August 8, wildfires swept through the Hawaiian island of Maui, destroying around 80% of the former capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii, Lahaina, and resulting in at least 100 deaths – with hundreds more missing – as of the time of this writing. Shortly after, encroaching wildfires caused the evacuation of the entire population of Yellowknife, a city of over 20,000 and the capital of the Northwest Territories in Canada. 

This year has put wildfires front and center of the global conversation on climate change. This summer, wildfires in Ontario and Quebec caused dangerous air pollution across the east coast of the United States, with smog turning the skies orange in New York, Philadelphia and Boston. Meanwhile, fires in Greece forced the evacuation of several islands frequented by tourists in June, including the evacuation of around 20,000 people on the island of Rhodes. 

Wildfires are not a new phenomenon. But as climate change makes wildfires – fueled by dry air, high temperatures and drought --  the kind of out-of-control wildfires that destroyed Lahaina and are threatening Yellowknife today are almost certain to become more common. The impact on the past week’s fires also shows the disproportionate affect climate change is having on indigenous peoples, whose cultural and historical lands are under direct threat by climate-change fueled disasters. 

The Alder Fire at Yellowstone National Park, 2013. Image by the US National Park Service.

What Happened at Maui and Yellowknife?

Prior to the start of wildfires on August 8, Maui – Hawaii’s second-largest and third-most populated island – was already suffering from a harsh drought, leaving the grass and brush of the island abnormally dry for this time of year. Concurrently, a hurricane some 70 miles south of Maui caused gusts of wind up to 65 mph (100 km/h) to sweep across the island. These winds fed the wildfires, already spreading along the dry brush, and caused the fires to spread incredibly rapidly. 

The wildfires quickly spread to Lahaina, where residents were not warned by emergency evacuation orders in time. Over 100 people were killed by the fires, and hundreds more remain missing. Over 2,700 homes were destroyed, including much of the town’s historical downtown, leaving 4,500 people needing shelter out of a population of 13,000 people. It is expected that the number of dead will rise exponentially as rescue efforts continue, and the rebuilding of the town is estimated to cost some $5.5 billion.

In Canada, Yellowknife is but the latest town threatened by raging wildfires across the country, which have already made 2023 the worst fire season on record. Some 236 active wildfires have converged on the city’s outskirts and main highway as firefighters rush to contain the flames, but unlike on Maui, evacuation orders have thus far shown to be successful. By Friday evening, 19,000 of 20,000 residents have already fled the city. Nevertheless, large-scale property damage remains a possibility as firefighters strive to contain the fires’ spread. 

Are These Fires Caused by Climate Change?

Yes. While scientists caution that it’s difficult to draw a direct correlation between a single event and rising global temperatures, we can draw patterns between climate change and increases in wildfires. As mentioned above, 2023 has been the worst year on record for Canada for wildfires, with about 3.8 million hectares (9.4 million acres) already burned, 15 times the 10-year average.

Meanwhile, droughts as predated and contributed to the spread of wildfires in Maui are becoming more common and more severe globally, according to a March study by NASA. 

Models also show us that extreme weather events, like heat waves and droughts which can lead to wildfires, are much more common under our current increase of 1.2 degrees Fahrenheit over pre-industrial levels than they would be without global warming. According to one model, simulated models of the climate since 2004 with current levels vs. pre-industrial temperatures shows that increases in extreme weather events are 100 times more likely in western Europe than they would be otherwise. 

So, while the confluence of events – high winds caused by a nearby hurricane plus a severe drought that fed wildfires – is unique for causing the fires that destroyed Lahaina, more and more of these “once in a generation” wildfires are going to keep happening as our world warms and the world battles to keep global warming beneath 2 degrees Fahrenheit – and ideally under 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit – above pre-industrial levels.

What Impact Does This Have on Indigenous Communities?

Indigenous people make up 10% of Maui’s population, and 25% of Yellowknife’s population. While fires do not discriminate people Indigenous and non-Indigenous residents of these two locations, and non-Indigenous populations have also suffered greatly because of the wildfires, the fires have shown just how much of an threat climate change is posing to Indigenous culture and heritage. 

Maui, Hawaii. Image by Ryan Oelke.

On Maui, the town of Lahaina once served as the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii, after King Kamehameha III united the islands in 1810. Many of the buildings damage by the fire – such as the island’s high school, where Hawaii’s first constitution was drafted, or the Waiola church, which is both the first Christian church and the site of the burial of many Native Hawaiian kings and queens – served as important cultural and historical sites for Native Hawaiians. The town’s central banyan tree, the oldest in Hawaii, and one of the oldest in the US, has also been damaged by the fire, and it is currently unknown if it will regrow. 

Yellowknife also has a long Indigenous history, with its name deriving from the Indigenous Yellowknife Dene First Nation. Canada’s Northwest Territories, which contains several other communities affected by the wildfires, are around 1/3rd Indigenous overall across 27 different First Nations. As the wildfires continue to spread, First Nations communities are forced to flee their ancestral lands, and may find it difficult to return and rebuild from the damage sustained. 

When we talk about the effects of climate change on Indigenous communities, it’s important to note how closely tied many Indigenous communities are to their ancestral lands. Colonization,  forced removal and Western settlement has forced Indigenous groups from much of their land over the past several centuries, and now, climate change – fueled by industrialization from predominantly Western and wealthy nations – is causing communities to lose their cultural heritage or flee lands they’ve called home for generations. 

The wildfires on Maui and in Yellowknife are but the latest example of this trend. According to the United Nations, climate change is also affecting Indigenous groups in the Himalayas, Amazon, and Artic, who are seeing traditional waves of live disrupted by changing weather patterns, deforestation, and availability of traditional food sources. This has caused indigenous peoples to migrate away from their indigenous lands, where they often face persecution and poverty. 

As we fight to keep global temperatures to 1.5 degrees of warming, it’s therefore paramount that we consider the impacts of climate change on Indigenous communities, whether it be through wildfires like those that impacted Maui and Yellowknife or as a result of more long-term, less headlining-catching effects.