It is a summer of extremes. Burning temperatures followed by raging fires. Wild storms and torrential rain. And a run of broken climate records.
The fact that megafires are here to stay and probably worsen with every year makes that 1.5c almost impossible due the amount of CO2 it releases.
Megafires has always been there in that part of Europe, simply no one cared. Now they are spreading further north…
Data doesn’t seem to agree with your comment:
https://effis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/apps/effis.statistics/seasonaltrend
https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/jrc-news-and-updates/eu-2022-wildfire-season-was-second-worst-record-2023-05-02_en&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwiogPzYy7SAAxVuRaQEHfi1A9UQFnoECAoQAg&usg=AOvVaw2dtUqW-wDxvDME-k1J3lm8
https://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/europes-summer-wildfire-emissions-highest-15-years&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwiogPzYy7SAAxVuRaQEHfi1A9UQFnoECAUQAg&usg=AOvVaw1-utHxqQCn2po8n89UFOlmIf you mean that there were summer fires before the 20th century, sure, but that’s like comparing a kiddie’s pool to a lake.
Link is broken. What I am trying to say is that megafires are pretty much the norm in south of spain, Sicily, Sardinia, greece. They are endemic there. Rhese regions have always had to strictly control on the territory because of such fire. What is happening there is that ongoing economical crisis, that is getting worse, there is no money for such a strict territorial control. But those places were already a bbqs ready to light. Now governments are poorer to prevent and interviene properly.
The main problem of climate changes is that it is extending north the region where these fires happen. Up to places previously unheard such as switzerland! That is the real proof that something bad is going on.
In the past, in south of Italy only Sardinia Sicily and Calabria were BBQs in summer. Now even places northern than that have become at high risk.
Source: I grew up there, my family is from there, I still visit often and keep reading news
This is morbidly fascinating. Also extremely good pictures.
e: While all of the photos are great, this one struck me in particular:
Heartbreaking
We reap what we sow.
I’d argue that a lot of people are reaping what a much smaller number people have sown. Not to say that we all don’t hold some blame in some part, but some are significantly more to blame than others. An emissions per capita map overlaid with a projected impact from climate change map explains it well.
I would agree with that.
It’s challenging to set who’s really responsible for climate change, as we could say someone living in suburbia and driving a SUV, while owning three cars and voting for a party that subsidizes coal has definitely a lot of blame.
However someone who has been born in said situation yet moved to the city, uses public transportation and do their best to reduce their impact can’t really be rolled in the mix with it.
Slowly but gradually the earlier will keep dying and fading out while the latter will push towards greener, less impactful approaches, however once that happens it will already be 50 years late.
This post brings such a powerful message.
