Morning Distribution for Monday, August 21, 2023

A [FiveThirtyEight]( email [Morning Distribution]( Monday, August 21, 2023 Your daily briefing from FiveThirtyEight --------------------------------------------------------------- The Morning Story [PollaPalooza_8_17_23_4x3_v01_DG]( [How Americans Are Reacting To The Maui Wildfires]( By [Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux]( Welcome to [Pollapalooza]( our weekly-ish polling roundup. --------------------------------------------------------------- Five days after a brush fire ignited on the Hawaiian island of Maui, quickly spreading across the island and destroying the town of Lahaina in [one of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history]( the state’s governor pointed to climate change as a major factor. “That level of destruction, and a fire hurricane, something new to us in this age of global warming, was the ultimate reason that so many people perished,” Democratic Gov. Josh Green [said on Aug. 13](. As ABC News and [other outlets]( have reported, his remarks were something of an oversimplification. Climate change wasn’t responsible for the fires on its own, according to scientists who have emphasized that multiple factors — like naturally occurring weather patterns and the introduction of non-native plants — appear to have worked in tandem with climate influences to make the fires so deadly. But the connection between natural disasters and climate change is one that politicians are increasingly making to justify urgent action on environmental issues. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Weekly Listen [Play]( [Politics Podcast: What Makes The Fulton County Indictment Different For Trump]( [FiveThirtyEight] [View in browser]( [ABC News]( [Unsubscribe]( Our mailing address: FiveThirtyEight, 47 West 66th Street, New York, NY 10023.