Massive Wildfires Ruin Parts Of South Korea
The largest wildfire in South Korea’s history has ruined large swaths of the country. So far, 200 people have died, and 27,000 have been relocated. The fire has not been contained.
There are or were 30 wildfires, and at least eight continue to burn. As was true with the LA wildfires, these have been fanned by winds over 50 MPH. South Korea’s acting President, Han Duck-soo, commented, “Damages are snowballing. There are concerns that we’ll have wildfire damages that we’ve never experienced, so we have to concentrate all our capabilities to put out the wildfires in the rest of this week.”
Climate Central View
Climate Central reported that temperatures are well above normal for this time of year. Its Climate Shift Index indicated that the conditions that started and allowed the fire to spread were man-made. “A CSI level 5 indicates that human-caused climate change made this heat at least five times more likely, signifying an exceptional climate change event.” South Korea and nearby Japan have also experienced periods of extreme drought.
The inability to contain the fires is similar to the firefighters’ challenge in Los Angeles last month and North and South Carolina. The Carolina fires have been partially triggered by yet another weather event–Hurricane Helene. According to Fox Weather,
Forest Service Challenge
North Carolina Forest Service Supervisor Nicholas Hoffmann said, “And the Helene damage is actually one of the biggest contributing factors to the difficulty in fighting this fire because of all the damage, the landslides, the lack of access that it has created … in addition to the steep, steep terrain and the high winds we’re having right now.” It is a weather domino effect.
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