What caused the Greece wildfires and how is the Rhodes blaze spreading?
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Terrifying wildfires have ravaged the Greek island of Rhodes over the past week, forcing thousands of holidaymakers to flee and leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.
The mass exodus has been described by the Greek government as the “biggest-ever” wildfire evacuation in the country’s history.
Many British tourists are stranded on the island with no way home.
It has left many observers wondering how the fires actually started and whether climate change is to blame.
MailOnline takes a look below.
Panic: Terrifying wildfires have ravaged the Greek island of Rhodes over the past week, forcing thousands of holidaymakers to flee and leaving a trail of destruction
What caused the wildfires?
It has not yet been confirmed what started the fires, but Greek firefighters suspect arson is to blame.
Yiannis Artopios, a spokesperson for the fire department, said authorities are currently questioning a group of suspects.
“Fires don’t start by themselves,” he told Greek television channel Skai TV.
“They are activated by the human hand, whether intentionally or not. We currently have several people being questioned in connection with their suspected involvement.’
The same is suspected in Corfu.
Giorgos Mahimaris, the mayor of North Corfu, told the BBC that the fire on the island was the result of arson by a ‘group of people’.
While this may be the case, the heat wave sweeping across Europe won’t have helped either.
That’s because scorching heat creates dry conditions that make it easier for fires to take hold and spread.
MailOnline spoke to experts, who explained that the scorching temperatures are caused by three main factors: El Niño, a stationary high-pressure system known as an anticyclone, and climate change.
Professor Stefan Doerr, director of the Center for Wildfire Research at Swansea University, said: ‘AAny ignition can quickly turn into a fast-moving wildfire. That could be faulty power lines, small deliberate fires to burn debris that gets out of control, sparks from moving machinery or construction activity, or arson.
‘Especially focusing on ignition sources distracts from the main issues: more combustible landscapes due to insufficient management of vegetation and more extreme weather due to climate change.’
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the country is “at war” with raging forest fires. He added that there are “three tough days ahead” as infernos continue to grip parts of the country
Local residents and tourists have been forced to flee as the fires spread, evacuating a total of 19,000 people from Rhodes.
Where have the fires spread?
The Greek islands of Corfu and Evia are the last to be set on fire, following Rhodes.
Dr. Thomas Smith, Associate Professor of Environmental Geography at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), said: ‘The bushfire in Rhodes started almost a week ago, on Tuesday 18 July, and was confined to the hilly terrain of the island’s interior until Saturday, when strong northerly winds carried the fire in rapid succession to the coast, some 20 km to the south.
“This coastline is full of large resort hotels and was the main target of the evacuation.”
However, it is not only the major tourist destinations and beaches that are affected.
Small villages such as Malona and Masari on Rhodes have also been evacuated.
Who was affected?
Winds are blowing the wildfires towards popular holiday resorts, with 19,000 people being evacuated from the island of Rhodes.
More than 3,000 people were rescued from beaches and 16,000 from land.
Travel organization TUI has announced that it will stop all flights to Rhodes until July 28. Meanwhile, an estimated 10,000 Britons are still stranded on Rhodes, waiting to return home.
Humans are not the only species in need of saving. Photos and videos of animals struggling and dying are also circulating on social media.
Firefighters are also sent to treat helpless animals whose habitats have been destroyed by the fires
What role did the heat wave play?
While the fires may have been started by arsonists, the scorching temperatures of the 40-degree Cerberus heat wave allowed the blaze to spread so quickly and dangerously.
Last year, a report by UNEP and GRID-Arendal found that climate change and land use change were making wildfires worseanticipating a global increase in extreme fires, even in previously untouched areas.
It stated that wildfires “became more intense and frequent, destroying communities and ecosystems in their path.”
Sweltering: Europe has been hit by a record-breaking heat wave. People are pictured cooling themselves at Rome’s Trevi Fountain that swept across Italy last week
Dr. Douglas Kelley, a land surface modeler at the UK Center for Ecology & Hydrology, said: ‘It is too early to say whether climate change has caused these bushfires.
“But the fact that there are now so many around the world, most recently in Greece and Canada, is a clear sign that climate change is causing an increase in severe wildfires worldwide.
“Heat waves like those in Greece are more likely with climate change. A heat wave dries out vegetation and dead plant material, making the fires more intense and spreading much faster, especially with the recent high winds.
‘While not unusual in southern Europe, what was unusual about the Rhodes fires was the intensity and the speed with which they spread.
“We predict that these extreme fires will increase by 50 percent worldwide by the end of the century.”