WILDFIRES AND HEATWAVES

Europe's Frequent Heatwaves Are Back Under The Spotlight

Frequent Heatwaves in Europe

Europe's increasingly frequent heatwaves are back under the spotlight over devastating wildfires & with sweltering temperatures forecast to hit record highs in Britain & France this week. Extreme heat forcing thousands out of their homes & sending holidaymakers scurrying for safety. This after France, Portugal & Spain saw armies of firefighters’ battle blazes & Irish forecasters predicting a savour of blistering Mediterranean-style summer temperatures. The continent has experienced its five hottest summers since 1500 in just over two decades.

Types of Wildfire in UN

The United Nations (UN) defines a wildfire, (also known as forest, bush, or vegetation fire) as any uncontrolled & non-prescribed combustion or burning of plants in a natural setting such as a grassland, forest brush land or tundra which consumes the natural fuels & spreads based on environmental conditions such as wind & topography. As per the UN, there are three basic types of wildfires: Crown fires, Surface fires & Ground fires.

Causes of Wildfires

Right climatic conditions, burnable fuel, & a spark are the requirement of Wildfires. Temperature increases cause plants to lose moisture, which results in an abundance of dry fuel. Drought & high heat can kill plants & dry out dead grass, & other material on the forest floor that fuel the fire once it starts sweeping through a patch. While dry vegetation is the combustible material used to start fires, the spark is occasionally caused by lightning, occasionally by an accident or the carelessness of the local populace. Regarding Europe, the continent has seen an early fire season because of an extremely dry and hot spring that dried out the land. Authorities attribute this to climate change. They add that the fires are being fanned by earlier-than-usual extreme temperatures & drought conditions in some parts. Wildfire experts agree as they see clear climate change signatures in the dryness, high heat, & early fire season.

Heatwave in Western Europe

A heatwave engulfing western Europe, the second in a month, sparks huge wildfires & threatens to smash records in Britain & France. Fires in Portugal, Spain, France & Greece force thousands of residents & tourists to flee & kill several people, including a Spanish shepherd & a firefighter. Britain is preparing for a temperature record of at least 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). The weather alerts follow a sweltering week in June during which regions of Europe, from Germany to Spain, sweltered in unseasonal highs of between 40 and 43 degrees Celsius.

Firefighter's Team

 Firefighters fight fires by depriving them of one or more of the fire triangle's essentials, according to National Geographic. A traditional method is to douse fires with water & spray fire retardants. Also, sometimes, Firefighters work in teams, often called hotshots, to clear vegetation from the land around a fire to contain & eventually starve it of fuel. The resulting acreages are known as firebreaks. These remove undergrowth, brush, & litter from a forest, which deprives wildfire of a fuel source.

According to UNEP

Wildfires are getting bigger and happening more frequently across the planet. Experts say that the approach must change from firefighting to mitigation of factors that lead to extreme fire events. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), "the trends towards increasingly hazardous fire-weather conditions are projected to increase due to rising concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases and the concomitant escalation of wildfire risk factors" in its annual Frontier report this year. In addition to enhancing firefighting capabilities, it is important to address the causes of these flames' escalation and deterioration.

Undoubtedly, Europe has been dealing with serious wildfires, with nations working to put out fires and control the damage. Although some areas of southern Europe's temperatures started to cool down over the weekend, hundreds of wildfires were still being fought across the continent by thousands of firefighters, and authorities warned that the threat of new flames remained quite high. The European Union has also enlisted the help of its fleet of firefighting vessels to aid the affected countries in putting out flames. To address these consequences of climate change, a strict plan of action is currently required.