Heatwaves Fuel New Fires in Mediterranean Countries

On Wednesday, large areas of southern Europe remain sweltering under an intense heat wave that has been sparking wildfires in Mediterranean countries such as Greece and Italy.

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Helped by firefighters from Türkiye and Slovakia, the Greeks are fighting fires on the islands of Rhodes, Corfu and Euboea, where heat and wind have kept the flames alive for a week.

A large fire broke out in an agroforestry area in the Magnesia region, forcing the evacuation of three towns and the Volos city's industrial area, which lies just five kilometers east of the fire. Dense smoke has reached the port of this city.

Some 33 firefighters with 13 vehicles and 2 tanker helicopters operate in the area, amid strong winds that make extinction tasks difficult. The Police have decided to stop traffic on the section of the Athens-Thessaloniki national highway that runs through the region.

Meanwhile, another large fire broke out practically at the limits of the the city of Lamia, the capital of the Fthiotide region, where several dozen new sources of fire have been detected.

The authorities have asked residents of the northern part of Lamia to leave their homes and head towards the center and south of the urban area.

On the island of Rhodes, in the eastern Aegean Sea, thousands of firefighters and volunteers continue to fight for the ninth consecutive day against the huge forest fire that has already burned more than 14,000 hectares of forest, houses, and animals.

Some 270 firefighters with 55 vehicles, 5 planes and 3 tanker helicopters are operating on various fronts in the center and south of this Greek island.

Some 3,000 volunteers also help contain the flames. Approximately 7,000 tourists and 12,000 residents have been evacuated from the island of Rhodes in the last week.

Scientists have described extreme heat as a "silent killer" taking a heavy toll on the vegetation and lives of people. Research published this month said as many as 61,000 people may have died in Europe's sweltering heatwaves last summer, suggesting preparedness efforts are falling fatally short.

The extreme weather throughout July has caused havoc across the planet, with record temperatures in China, the United States and southern Europe sparking forest fires, water shortages and a rise in heat-related hospital admissions.

The heat has also caused large-scale crop damage and livestock losses, said the World Weather Attribution (WWA), a global team of scientists that examines the role played by climate change in extreme weather.

Agricultural production is also severely affected in some places, such as the U.S. corn and soybean crops, Mexican cattle, southern European olives as well as Chinese cotton.

Without human-induced climate change, the events this month would have been "extremely rare," according to a study released by the WWA.