Shafaqna English- Wildfires displace 200,000 people in France and around 70,000 in Spain.
It has been an exceptionally hot summer so far in western Europe with successive heatwaves. June was the hottest June recorded for western Europe, according to data from the EU’s climate change service, Copernicus.
The BBC explained that these conditions, coupled with very dry weather and below-average precipitation across large areas of France and Spain, mean the vegetation is very dry and prone to ignition, and winds can also help fan the flames.
Additionally, an unusually wet winter allowed vegetation to grow widely and rapidly, which, when dried by the summer heat, has meant abundant fuel for the fires.
This has created the perfect conditions for fires to spread. Climate change is also increasing the risk of summer heatwaves across Europe – which is the fastest-warming continent on earth, with temperatures rising more than 0.5C each decade since the 1990s.
Sources: Vatican News