Europe Is Burning: How Bad Could This Wildfire Crisis Get?
Thousands of firefighters are battling blazes that have burned more than 220,000 hectares and forced more than 250,000 evacuations, officials said.
- On Tuesday, massive wildfires across Spain and France forced the evacuation of more than 320,000 residents and tourists, destroying at least 240 homes near Bordeaux.
- Europe has experienced three major heatwaves this summer, leaving vegetation exceptionally dry; the European Commission notes that around 96% of wildfires are caused by human activity.
- After at least 80,000 hectares were lost in Spain and 42,000 in France, the European Commission deployed more than 770 firefighters from 14 countries, utilizing a fleet of 22 aircraft and five helicopters.
- Although authorities in Gironde said the wildfire remained "contained" on Tuesday, they warned that unfavourable weather conditions could cause fires to spread; President Emmanuel Macron told reporters, "We are doing everything we can to stop it."
- Stefan Doerr, director of the Centre for Wildfire Research at Swansea University, explains that fire seasons are becoming longer and more intense as landscape changes make regions more vulnerable to mega fires.
27 Articles
27 Articles
Climate disruption, arson, negligence, the way we manage our nature, and even rural exodus: it is all part of the cocktail that led to the severe wildfires in France and Spain. Yet climate disruption plays a significant role. Where a fire breaks out, it spreads faster than in the past.
Extreme heat and forest fires characterise the summer. Why does the climate crisis get quickly into the background? And: Deutsche Bahn again writes black numbers.
Big fires in Spain, Turkey and Greece threaten people, animals and the economy. The result: evacuations, billions damage and criticism of a lack of crisis prevention. Reporters Miguel Gutiérrez Posada and Marion Sendker report.
A human-made forest is at the centre of France's raging wildfires
Scientists say climate change is driving the extraordinary fire conditions gripping western Europe, but that the scale of those fires cannot be understood without looking at how humans drastically changed part of the landscape 200 years ago.
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