A number of firefighting personnel from European countries have arrived to help contain the fires that have engulfed large areas in the southwest of the country, while efforts to deal with massive forest fires in separate areas continue Thursday. They arrived in France on August 11, 2022. Western European countries
According to AFP, heat waves, floods and frost have raised concerns about climate change and the high frequency of extreme weather around the world.
For the third day in a row, a massive forest fire is raging near Bordeaux, a stronghold of the wine industry. Temperatures are unlikely to drop before the start of next week.
More than 1,000 firefighters, backed by water jets, battled a blaze that forced thousands of people from their homes and burned thousands of hectares of forest in the Gironde region of southwestern France.
With a combination of dangerous factors including extreme temperatures, dry conditions and gusty winds, emergency services are struggling to bring the fire under control.
“It’s a giant, it’s a monster,” French fire official Gregory Allion told RTL radio.
Josef Eschbacher, the head of the European Space Agency, for his part, noted that the increase in global temperature and the retreat of rivers, according to the measurements made from space, leave no doubt that climate change will have a negative impact on agriculture and other industries. .
“It’s very bad,” Eschbacher told Reuters.
In Romania, where high temperatures and drought have caused river levels to drop, Greenpeace activists protested on the banks of the Danube to draw attention to global warming and call on the government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
With heatwaves sweeping Europe this summer, scorching temperatures and record droughts, the focus has once again been on the risks of climate change to agriculture, industry and livelihoods.
A severe drought is expected to cut the EU corn crop by 15 percent to its lowest level in 15 years, as Europeans grapple with rising food prices.
Switzerland has sent military helicopters to deliver water to thirsty cows, pigs and goats sleeping under the scorching sun in the country’s alpine pastures.
In France, which is suffering from its worst drought ever, trucks are delivering water to dozens of villages. Milks have dried up and farmers are warning that a lack of feed could lead to a milk shortage.
In the case of Germany, the lack of rain this summer has reduced the water level of the Rhine River, the country’s commercial artery, hindering the movement of cargo and increasing its costs.
On Thursday, the Met Office issued a four-day “extreme heat” warning for parts of England and Wales.
In Portugal, more than 1,500 firefighters spent their sixth day battling a forest fire in the central Covilha region that has destroyed 10,500 hectares, including parts of the Serra da Estrela National Park.
While lightning in Spain caused new fires and hundreds of people were evacuated from the fire path in the province of Caceres.
In turn, French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said more firefighting planes were arriving from Greece and Sweden, while Germany, Austria, Romania and Poland were sending firefighting teams to help fight the blaze. They are burning in the French forests.
Meanwhile, firefighters said they were able to save the village of Bolan Pele, which was deserted after police asked them to evacuate their homes as the flames approached. But the fire reached the outskirts of the village and left burnt houses and idle tractors behind.
Meanwhile, the Gironde region also experienced large forest fires in July.
“The area is completely destroyed… we are devastated… we are tired… these fires are the straw that broke the camel’s back,” mayor Jean-Louis Dartael told Classic Radio.
Source: Lebanon Debate
