Coexistence with Wildfires: The Mediterranean Or the "New Normal" of Superblazes

According to the European Times compilation report, global leaders are facing pressure on how to deal with climate warming at the cop26 conference, and the intense heat waves caused by warming and increasingly frequent forest fires are threatening the Mediterranean region, and people are worried that super-fires will become the new normal.

Locals: Fires destroyed the forests on which they depended

The BBC reported that Greece has suffered thousands of wildfires and the worst heat in decades this summer alone, and the fire on the island of Evia is the largest fire on record in Greece that has been brought under control in nearly two weeks. Italy, Turkey, Spain and other countries have also seen fires in recent months.

▲ Firefighters extinguish fires at the site of a mountain fire in northern Athens, Greece, on August 5. (Photo from Xinhua News Agency)

Nikos dimitrakis, a farmer born and raised on the island of Evia, said: "We never thought it would be like this. We thought we would burn some of it like the previous fire, but now the whole area is burned down. ”

When the fire spreads, he said, no one can help. "The fire spread toward the mountain, it was so loud that I could only sit there and watch, and then leave crying. What can you do alone? ”

On the island of Evia, many people, like nikos dimitrakis, depend on the land for their survival. "We have lost our homeland and the forest on which we depend. The question now is how the state will support us. ”

He said authorities handled the fire improperly. "I was very angry. While climate change is one cause, fires shouldn't be so big. The authorities are responsible. Many local residents also said the government had not taken enough measures to stop the spread of the fire, but firefighters said this year's extraordinarily large fire was unprecedented.

Firefighter: Fighting fires is like war climate change is a global problem

Stratos Anastasopoulos, who coordinates firefighting aircraft across Greece, said he had never encountered anything like it in his 23-year career. "It's like a war... Fires have occurred in many parts of Greece, almost 100 a day, lasting 5 or 6 days. It's very, very difficult for us. ”

The weather conditions this year have been very different from previous years, with persistently hot and low rain, he said, "And I think we can see climate change, which is not just a greek problem, or An Italian problem, but a global problem." ”

Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis this week blamed the loss of the fires on climate change. "The climate crisis is just around the corner and we're doing what humans can do, but it's not enough," he said. ”

In the coming years, people will be able to feel the damage caused by wildfires. Rangers say that if the pine trees can be guaranteed to be protected from fire in the future, they will eventually grow again, but it will take 30 years.

And when winter rains come, flooding risk follows. The forestry department has hired local teams to build temporary terraces to prevent landslides. In the coming months, they will cut down all the burned trees in the northern part of Evia to make room for new trees to grow.

Experts: Step up prevention to prepare for the new normal

Elias Ziritis, a wildfire expert at the World Wildlife Fund, says pine forests can cope with fires once every 30 years, but if fires occur too frequently, they can't regenerate. "I have faith in nature, there are frequent fires in Mediterranean forests, which is a natural mechanism. But I don't believe in humans. ”

Elias Ziritis, who is also a fire volunteer, fears that if prevention is not stepped up, mega-fires will occur again and again. He hopes for better forest management, removing flammable forest fuels such as broken branches and dead leaves, especially in residential areas close to the forest.

"Officials here say the problem with forest fires is climate change, but that's just one of the reasons it's making them worse." He said. He also wants people to be prepared to adapt to the new normal of frequent wildfires. (Original title: Wildfire Coexistence: The Mediterranean Sea or the "New Normal" of Super Fires)