Beach towns in southern Greece are evacuated due to a series of wildfires raging on Greece’s Attica peninsula. This is reported by international news agencies. The fire started on Monday afternoon, about twenty-five kilometers from Athens. Since then, the fire has been fueled by strong gusts of wind.
One hundred and fifty Greek and Romanian firefighters have now been deployed, including seven firefighting planes and four helicopters. If they don’t get the fire under control, the smoke could disrupt air traffic: Athens airport is only ten kilometers away. Many Athenians have second homes in the coastal areas and go there to see if their homes are damaged, the British newspaper said The Guardian. This has created a chaotic traffic situation.
Not only Greece has to deal with extremely high temperatures. The Director of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom tweeted Monday: “In many parts of the world, today will be the hottest day on record, according to forecasts.” The World Meteorological Organization predicts that August will get even hotter, all over the world.
Italy warns: ‘most intense heat wave of all time’
In Italy, the government has warned of the “most intense heat wave of the summer and one of the most intense heat waves of all time”. Code red has been declared in sixteen cities, including Rome, Bologna and Florence. Local celebrities are used on television to announce precautions to protect the elderly and pets, for example.
Temperatures in Rome will rise to 43 degrees on Tuesday. The previous record dates from August 2007, when it was 40.5 degrees in the Italian capital. Meanwhile, Romans already use so much air conditioning that parts of the electricity network are down.
Forest fire on La Palma
In the south of the Spanish mainland, in Andalusia, it will be above 40 degrees from Monday to Wednesday. A large forest fire has been raging on the Canary Island of La Palma since Sunday, which has already reduced 5,000 hectares of forest to ashes. More than four thousand people have been evacuated. It is now cooling down on the island again, and although the fire is still not under control, evacuees can partly return to their homes.
Read also The Canary Island of La Palma is burning, and the fire is not yet under control
In Romania it will be 39 degrees on Monday. Meteorologists said against the Romanian channel B1TV that “there will be an intensification of the heat wave” that will affect the entire country. “The heat will make it uncomfortable on the plains and plateaus. Even in the mountains it will be unusually warm.”
China heat record
Temperatures outside Europe are also frighteningly high. It reached 52 degrees in the village of Sanbao in northwestern China, a new record for the entire country. The heat is expected to last for another five days in that region.
In the United States, nearly a third of the population – some 113 million people – are currently being advised by the government to exercise caution because of the heat. The National Weather Service said on Saturday that the temperatures “pose a health risk or even kill anyone without effective cooling and/or adequate hydration.”
In Canada, about ten million hectares of forest have now been burned. Some 850 fires raging in Canada, of which some 580 are not under control. The cloud of smoke has moved to New York, and parts even all the way to the southern state of Alabama. Some 70 million people are affected by poor air quality due to the fires.