After record heat: Southern Europe engulfed by large-scale forest fires
Southern Europe has faced a massive wave of forest fires engulfing several countries at once.
The most difficult situation is developing in Portugal, Spain, France, and Greece, where the fire has already destroyed more than 190 square kilometers of natural areas, and thousands of residents have been forced to leave their homes.
According to local authorities, hundreds of firefighters are fighting the fires with aviation support. Thus, due to high air temperatures, strong winds, and prolonged drought, the spread of fire remains extremely rapid, which significantly complicates the work of emergency services.
It is worth noting that an especially difficult situation is observed in the southwest of France in the Perpignan area. There, about 700 firefighters and specialized aviation are trying to localize a large forest fire that has engulfed hard-to-reach terrain. In a day, the area of the fire has almost tripled and reached 46 square kilometers. Thus, as a result of the incident, one firefighter and one local resident were injured, and more than ten thousand people were evacuated.
Meteorologists warn that the situation may worsen in the coming days. In some areas of Southern Europe, air temperatures will again approach 40 degrees Celsius, which creates additional conditions for the emergence of new fire sources.
The current wave of fires followed shortly after the record June heat, which became one of the most intense in the history of observations in Europe. According to experts, extreme temperatures were accompanied by thousands of cases of excess mortality.
The scientific group World Weather Attribution concluded that such large-scale heat would have been practically impossible without the influence of anthropogenic climate change. Researchers note that rising average temperatures increase the duration of dry periods, reduce soil and vegetation moisture, and thereby significantly increase the likelihood of large forest fires.
