Wildfires are common in the eastern Mediterranean country of Greece, especially during the summer.
However, they are becoming more frequent and intense.
In 2023, wildfires burned 42,900 hectares (106,000 acres), which was nearly double the area in 2022. But new data revealed by an official has shown that nearly 44,500 hectares have been burned in 2024.
Scientists have linked hotter, drier and windier weather to the effects of fossil fuel-driven climate change which has increased their frequency and intensity.
The number of wildfires was up 7.5% this year, compared to the annual average of the previous 20 years.
In some good news, the destroyed land was 14% less thanks to immediate response of the authorities, according to the nation’s Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias.
One third of the forest fires broke out before or after the end of the fire season, which is generally between May to October, he said.
“This is something that we will also face in the next coming years,” he added in a speech at an event focused on evaluating the fire season.
Greece is on the front line of climate change and has struggled to provide relief and repair damage following destructive floods and wildfires in recent years, which scientists link to global warming linked to the fossil fuel industry.
During the height of the summer, Greece’s Civil Protection were forced to issue a very high risk (category 4) warning for wildfires in six areas including Attica, the Peloponnese, Crete and Samos island. A precautionary ban on the movements of vehicles and people in national parks, forests and other high-risk areas was also put in place.
Airline Jet2 also warned that flights to Athens were at risk of being cancelled amid fears that the airport could be shut down over 25-metre high flames.
In August, a large wildfire swept through the mountains north of Athens, destroying several homes, threatening nature reserves and killing one person. Around 700 firefighters, 190 fire engines and 33 water-bombing aircraft fought the fire while over 25 towns and villages were evacuated, leaving at least 78 homes uninhabitable.
In 2023, a wildfire burning in northeastern Greece for 11 days destroyed an area larger than New York City, with more than 174,000 hectares wiped out in thousands of fires across the country.
