Brussels (The Brussels Morning Newspaper) – With multiple wildfires busting out in Greece, and most notably in the Northern Peloponnese region, the EU is dispatching planes to help fight the rapidly fanning flames.
Following Greece’s activation of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, the EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre has instantly mobilised three firefighting aircraft from the rescEU emergency reserves. The planes rallied from Croatia and Italy, and have already reached Greece. The EU has also undertaken emergency satellite mapping via its Copernicus system to provide maps for the local authorities. The European Commission continues observing the fire danger forecast and is ready to mobilise more help if needed.
During this summer’s wildfire season, Greece had previously asked for assistance via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism twice, obtaining at the time 5 firefighting planes, 2 helicopters, as well as 7 ground teams amounting to 348 firefighters and 115 vehicles. Greece also hosted a prepositioning schedule, in which firefighters and vehicles were engaged in Greece for several weeks.
What impact has climate change had on greek wildfires?
Greece, like other southern European nations, is plagued by deadly wildfires every summer. Over the past few months, authorities have had to manage more than 4,500 wildfires. Hospitals and residential suburbs had to be vacated northeast of Athens in August as a blaze tore through dry pine forests.
The country has been struck by repeated heatwaves, with June and July being the hottest months ever registered in Greece. It comes after a record-long 16-day heatwave induced the EU’s largest-ever wildfire in the summer of 2023, which extinguished at least 28 people.
Europe is the world’s fastest-warming mainland, with temperatures increasing at around twice the global average, according to the UN’s World Meteorological Organization and the European Union’s climate agency, Copernicus. This has been deemed most keenly over central and southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean – with Greece especially badly hit.
Its mosaic of islands makes it especially weak during wildfires, due to varied microclimates, unique ecosystems and logistical challenges. Marine heatwaves associated with hot, dry weather are adding to the country’s extreme weather sufferings by contributing to fiercer and more frequent storms – like September 2023’s Storm Daniel.
