The deadly heat wave moves “early in summer” throughout Europe while climate scientists rings alarm bells

A incendiary heat wave has been linked across parts of Europe this week to half of the ten deaths, feeding forest fires in Greece and Turkey and stir up pressure on the already stressful waterways on the continent.

More than 1500 people were evacuated while firefighters were controlling fires on the Greek island of Crete on Thursday, while two farms died after they became trapped due to fire in the Catalonia region of Spain earlier in the week. In Türkiye, more than 50,000 people face forest fires in the West Ezer Province have been evacuated.

The temperatures rose above 40c in some areas this week-as it reaches 46 ° C in Spain and Portugal-where Europe is struggling with successive heat waves.

Samantha Burgis, a climate strategic leader at the European Medium Range Weather Fights, said that the hot wave in June to July had revealed “millions of Europeans to high thermal stress”, noting that many across the continent have witnessed “very high temperatures” since the beginning of June.

She said: “Climate change makes heat waves frequent, more intense and affect the largest geographical areas.”

Borges said that the highlands seen in June were more typical in July and August. Spain and England were the most important in June, while it ranked second to France. Portugal witnessed a daily temperature for June of 46.6 ° C.

Michels Diacakis, an expert in climate related disaster at the University of Athens, said that Greece and the southeastern Mediterranean were suffering from “severe heat and drought conditions.”

He added that this lengthy heat, followed by strong winds, has created the “ideal conditions” of forest fires such as those on the island of Crete and Turkey.

The fire broke out on the island of Crete on Wednesday afternoon near the municipality of Erbetra, with the spread of fire quickly fueled by strong winds and dry conditions.

“On the island of Crete specifically, the very strong north winds allow the rugged terrain on the island, with the possibility of limited arrival for firefighting teams,” said Diakakis.

He added that the “dramatic terrain”, especially its sharp trees, “can act to behave in an explosive manner,” which makes “an exceptional challenge.”

France and Switzerland were forced to suspend or reduce activity in some nuclear power plants this week with high temperatures.

Most internal nuclear plants depend on rivers to cool the reactors, spend fuel, and heat water in this process before they are drained again to the waterways.

But with low river flows and already high temperatures, Paul Dorfman, head of the Nuclear Consulting Group, said that the emptying of the hot water “is due to the river’s great damage to the receiving river environment, which kills plant and animal life in this process.”

He added: “This is the main reason why some reactors are closed or operated during the heat wave.”

It is expected that it will flow through many European rivers, including the Rhine, Ilby and Sayyin, low during the summer months, on the back of a dry spring and the continuation of the warm weather.

In a recent report, the S & P Global Ratses warned that southern Europe was one of the most equipped areas in the world, saying that urgent investment in infrastructure was necessary in Spain and Italy in particular.

“The surface water temperature in the Mediterranean was exceptionally hot, as it arrived near the records.”

“Because of the climate change, the heat waves are increasingly affecting the regions of Europe, which usually enjoy more moderate weather conditions during the summer,” Lagovardos added.

in Global Transformation Point Conference The EXATER Climate Forum in the United Kingdom this week, which participated in hundreds of European scientific organizations and academic circles, or nearly 200 participants who approved a statement calling for action of policy makers “, especially leaders at the COP30 climate summit in Brazil later this year.”

Experts said that the increasing expectations that global warming since pre -industrial times will exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius “within a few years” as greenhouse gas emissions that rise that billions of people were at risk of climate shift points, or the level in which irreversible changes are expected on land systems.

Europe, a warmer data data scientist at the WRI ROSS Center for Sustainable Cities, said that Europe needs to be prepared for warmer temperatures, adding that the severe heat is “fatal in itself”, as well as exacerbating the risk of forest fires, air pollution and the spread of some diseases.

“The real challenge is to protect people as they already feel the heat – in their homes, workplaces and public places,” she said.