Extreme weather driving climate denialism online

Real threat: Search and recovery team members check charred buildings and cars in the aftermath of the Maui wildfires in Hawaii. Scientists say the world must drastically cut the amount of fossil fuels it burns, or life will become unbearable for billions. — AFP

LOS ANGELES: When images and video of the tragic blazes in Maui began to filter out across the Internet, rumours also started to spread.

Across Facebook, TikTok and X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, commentators shared wild speculations that the fires, which have now taken the lives of more than 100 people, were the product of arson, a plot to clear the land for billionaires or, most bizarrely, space lasers.