In 2023, Greece was engulfed in an unprecedented wave of wildfires and a scorching heatwave, adopted by the most well liked winter ever recorded. This alarming sequence of occasions has left the nation bracing for a probably devastating summer season, notably forest fires.
The World Financial institution experiences that over 30% of Greek territory is roofed in forests, heightening the priority. In 2023, roughly 175,000 hectares of forests and agricultural land had been ravaged by fires, resulting in the tragic lack of over 20 lives. These devastating forest fires occurred throughout a two-week heatwave in July, the longest on file in Greece.
Throughout this time, Greece performed its largest evacuation operation, requiring round 20,000 individuals, primarily vacationers, to go away their properties and trip spots on the island of Rhodes within the southeast. Temperatures soared to 46 levels in Gythion, positioned within the Peloponnese peninsula within the southwest.
This Mediterranean nation, accustomed to summer season warmth waves, has skilled “the most well liked winter on file,” in accordance with Costas Lagouvardos, analysis director on the Nationwide Observatory of Athens.
Regardless that summer season has not formally begun, warmth data had been damaged throughout the first week of June, with temperatures reaching 39.3°C in some areas.
Main Warning Signal
Giant forest fires can happen when temperatures are excessive, which suggests drought. Final August, an enormous hearth in Dadia Nationwide Park, near the border with Turkey, was categorized as essentially the most harmful ever recorded within the EU.
This 12 months, on the finish of March, a fireplace broke out at over 1000 meters within the mountains of Pieria (central Greece). Costas Lagouvardos calls this “a serious warning signal.” In keeping with Nikolaos Roumeliotis, deputy hearth chief, the residents couldn’t imagine the hearth might have began on beforehand snow-covered slopes.
“The early prevalence of a fireplace at such excessive altitudes is unprecedented in my years of finding out forest fires,” famous Theodore Giannaros, a meteorologist specializing in wildfires on the Athens Observatory.
“That is extraordinarily regarding because it signifies a development in the direction of a warmer and drier local weather,” Giannaros added. He additionally expressed issues that ecosystems beforehand much less prone to fires might regularly develop into extra susceptible.
Thousand Fires between January and Could
In keeping with firefighters, Greece noticed a 28% improve in forest fires from January to Could in comparison with the earlier 12 months. By the tip of April, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed remorse over a thousand recorded fires.
In response to this escalating menace, Greece has launched a 2.1 billion euro undertaking to revamp its civil safety infrastructure, marking its most formidable effort up to now. By 2025, the nation is ready to amass new water bombers, helicopters, hearth vehicles, thermal cameras, and over 100 drones, with the first funding coming from the EU.
To handle this 12 months’s challenges, the technique is to deploy water bombers promptly when a fireplace erupts to achieve time. A nationwide emergency train concerned firefighters, police, and ambulance companies. Nevertheless, specialists emphasize the persistent subject of inadequate coordination among the many firefighting companies in Greece.
