Environmentalists say Greece disregarded climate change

EurActiv: Environmentalists have criticised the Greek authorities for disregarding climate change, while major wildfires are ravaging the country and threatening the outskirts of the country's capital, Greek and international media reported.

Greek firefighters are fighting the country's worst wildfires since 2007, as strong winds fan flames on the outskirts of Athens, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people and destroying forested areas. The authorities declared a state of emergency on Saturday (22 August). Five firefighting aircraft have arrived in Greece from Italy, France and Cyprus to help control the situation after an appeal from Greek authorities, who fear the fire might surge further into the ancient capital.

Authorities must intensify their efforts to curb climate change as heat waves and drier conditions created by the phenomenon in Greece and other Mediterranean countries are leading to larger and more uncontrollable forest fires, a spokesperson for Greenpeace told the Greek daily Kathimerini on 24 August.

"Apart from all the other repercussions of climate change, we have the larger and fiercer blazes which further fuel global warming," said Natalia Tsigaridou, referring to the findings of a report compiled by Greenpeace's office in Spain. The Iberian country has also been devastated by wildfires in recent years...

A 2008 wildfire in northern Achaea, Peloponnesus, Greece, shot by Eusebius, Wikimedia Commons, under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2