Two people were reportedly killed and at least 20 others injured. In neighbouring Greece, more than 500 fires forced the evacuation of thousands of people as forests were scorched by wildfires in Evia, Peloponnese, and Attica, including around the capital Athens. In 2020, that figure jumped to almost 3,400. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared the regions affected by the fires as “disaster areas” and described them as the “worst wildfires” in the country’s history.Īccording to Husrev Ozkara, vice-chair of the Turkish Foresters Association, an average of 2,600 fires have erupted across the country every year during the last decade. In Turkey, at least eight people have been killed since July 28 when hundreds of fires swept through the south. Hundreds of fires have raged from Algeria to Jerusalem in the past month. Mediterranean wildfiresĪ heatwave across southern Europe, fed by hot air from Africa, has led to wildfires across the region.

Mark Diesendorf, associate professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia, told Al Jazeera climate change is producing heatwaves and droughts, which, in turn, create dry vegetation that fuels large fires.Īccording to the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, at least 470 wildfire disasters – incidents that killed 10 or more people or affected more than 100 – have been reported globally since 1911, causing at least $120bn in damages. Scientists from across the globe said humanity will experience more extreme weather in the coming years and will suffer the consequences of rising sea levels and melting Arctic ice. In August, an alarming UN report blamed human activity for “unprecedented” changes to the climate. While wildfires are a natural part of many environments as a way to clear out dead underbrush and restore nutrients, scientists have warned that they are becoming more frequent and more widespread. It gathers shortwave-infrared data combined with other techniques to differentiate between burned areas and other low reflectance covers such as clouds. To measure the size and impact these fires have on climate, vegetation and atmosphere, scientists use observations from several low Earth-orbit satellites, including the Copernicus Sentinel-3.

To put that in context, that is about half the size of the United States, larger than India, or roughly four times the size of Nigeria. Keep reading list of 4 items list 1 of 4 Under the rubble: The missing in Gaza list 2 of 4 Staying warm in Gaza: A battle for survival list 3 of 4 Boycotts and protests – how are people around the world defying Israel? list 4 of 4 Know their names: Palestinians killed by Israel in the occupied West Bank end of listĬalifornia’s Dixie fire – the second-largest in the state’s history, and Siberia’s wildfires are being touted as some of the largest fires in recorded history.Īccording to the European Space Agency, “fire affects an estimated four million square kilometres (1.5 million sq miles) of Earth’s land each year”.

Fires in california right now map