Greece was battling four major wildfires on Sunday, which have forced hundreds to evacuate as rising temperatures there and Spain raised fears of more fires.
Scientists say human-caused climate change is amplifying extreme weather — including the heat waves, droughts and floods seen in several parts of the planet in recent weeks — and saying these events are becoming more frequent and intense.
The international community agrees that climate change poses an existential threat to human systems and the natural world – but there are countless ways to take action.
The Earth’s average temperature has warmed by just over 1.1 degrees Celsius (34 degrees Fahrenheit) since the Industrial Era, and the United Nations says it is currently on track to rise by about 2.7 degrees Celsius this century to heat.
Greece is in the grip of a heatwave that began on Saturday and is expected to last 10 days. Temperatures should rise to 42°C in some regions.
Fire department spokesman Yiannis Artopoios said at a briefing on Sunday evening that Greece was facing “an explosive cocktail of drought, high temperatures and strong winds”.
Fires raged in the north, east and south of the country, including on the tourist island of Lesvos, where around 200 people were told to leave the village of Vryssa on Sunday to escape the flames.
– Danger for humans and animals –
Elderly women left the village with a few belongings in plastic bags as thick smoke enveloped the first houses.
On Saturday, residents and tourists were urged to leave the island’s beach village of Vatera.
In the north-eastern Evros region, hundreds of firefighters battled a wildfire that has been raging for four days in Dadia National Park, known for its colony of black vultures.
Evros Governor Dimitris Petrovits told the Athens News Agency the authorities are doing everything they can to protect locals and treat injured wildlife.
In the south, a fire in the Peloponnese caused the evacuation of three villages and a summer camp for children, while on the island of Crete a fire raged in a ravine.
In Spain, a heatwave that has been going on for two weeks was expected to produce record temperatures of 45C in the southern region of Cordoba.
This part of Andalusia recorded the highest temperature in Spain just last year – 47.7°C.
The National Weather Bureau said the relentless heatwave since July 9 and lack of rain in the Iberian Peninsula since the start of the year mean there is an “extreme” risk of fire.
Overall, fires in France, Spain and Portugal have already burned more land this year than was destroyed by flames in all of 2021. The area – around 517,881 hectares – corresponds to the size of Trinidad and Tobago.
The World Health Organization said Friday the heatwave in Europe had resulted in “more than 1,700 needless deaths… in Spain and Portugal alone.”
Firefighters in Britain battled blazes in London on Sunday, days after mercury rose to 40.3C, beating the country’s temperature record.
The London Fire Brigade said it was dealing with more incidents than usual, with 205 staff and 28 fire engines deployed to tackle fires at three locations in the capital.
It urged the public to cancel barbecues and remove trash from grasslands.
– Wasting energy is “absurd” –
The United States, meanwhile, sweltered in scorching heat that should already exceed record temperatures, exacerbating a runaway wildfire in central California.
Tinder conditions in California that sparked a fire near Yosemite National Park and its giant sequoias on Friday, two days after President Joe Biden warned that climate change posed a “clear and present danger.”
In France, the government announced on Sunday that it would introduce regulations to curb energy wastage, which unnecessarily contributes to greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change.
Shops are being ordered to keep their doors closed when their air conditioning or heating is on or risk a fine, Energy Transition Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher told RMC radio.
Leaving the doors open when the air conditioning is on results in “20 percent more fuel consumption and … it’s absurd,” she said.
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