Ecological succession

By George Gilson

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in a parliamentary debate today on the recent disastrous wildfires defended the government's management of the crisis, and he blamed the magnitude of it on the extended heat wave in the Mediterranean and on climate change.

August's wildfires in North Macedonia engulfed a vast amount of forest whose absence will be felt for decades - worsening climate conditions and threatening the livelihoods of rural communities.

Wildfires in two spots has broken out in Balıkesir's Kazdağları mountain range- also known as Ida mountains- on Aug. 23.

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The General Directorate of Forestry sent firefighting teams along with three planes and nine helicopters to the area to put out the fire.

The cause of the fire is unknown.

High temperatures and dry weather assisted the spread of wildfires in Southern Europe with Italy being one of the worst hit. The wildfires advanced as far as the suburbs of the Italian capital Rome, Reuters elaborated. Local residents were evacuated from small communities around 40 km east of the ancient city.

In Turkey's Mediterranean region and across the country, with a much harsher fire season than in previous years, the area burned this year has increased nearly nine-fold on average with the latest fires, according to an expert.

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Several prominent Turkish celebrities have reached out to assist firefighters against wildfires that have been ravaging Turkey, daily Hürriyet reported on Aug. 5.

The number of people who have lost their lives due to massive forest fires in southern Turkey has risen to eight, the country's agriculture and forestry minister announced on Aug. 1.

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An innovative system that can predict where a fire is expected to break out on Greek territory in the next 24 hours with a spatial analysis of up to 500 meters was created by researchers at the Beyond Earth Observation and Satellite Monitoring Center of the National Observatory of Athens.

Ottawa prepared on July 2 to send military aircraft and other help to evacuate towns and fight more than 100 wildfires in western Canada fueled by a record-smashing heat wave.

According to wildfire officials, at least 152 fires were active in British Columbia, 89 of them sparked in the last two days. Most were caused by lightning strikes.

Units from the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry's Directorate General of Forestry have added more drones to their fleet to fight forest fires more effectively.