Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

EU braces for intense wildfires as drought could become 'worst ever'

EU braces for intense wildfires as drought could become 'worst ever'

The European Union is bracing itself for a difficult wildfire season with hundreds of firefighters from different member states being deployed as the drought in southern European countries could become "the worst ever".
"Since 2017, we have witnessed the most intense forest fires ever seen in Europe and that we, unfortunately, expect the 2022 forest fire season could follow this trend," said Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commission's vice-president for inter-institutional relations, told lawmakers on Thursday.

"Similarly, the Copernicus emergency management service indicates the present drought in Europe could become the worst ever," he added.

Climate change has increased the risk of fire, scientists say. Higher summer temperatures, coupled with the effects of more numerous and longer-lasting droughts make it easier for fires to spark and spread. The wildfire season itself has also become wider.

The EU and neighboring countries were severely impacted in 2021 with a series of wildfires, fuelled by record-breaking heatwaves, devastating farms, fields, and forests across the Mediterranean, including in Turkey, Greece, Italy, France, Albania, North Macedonia, and Spain, Algeria and Tunisia in north Africa, and Middle Eastern countries such as Lebanon and Israel.

Some wildfires led to apocalyptic scenes, such as in Evia, where people were forced to flee the Greek island by boat in the dead of the night.

According to the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, 2021 was the second-worst year ever recorded for forest fires in the Mediterranean, after 2017 and at least 86 people lost their lives.

Šefčovič said that to face these challenges "climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction and disaster preparedness are paramount" and that these efforts must include making ecosystems more biodiverse and resilient.

But he also told MEPs that to prepare, under the EU's "Civil Protection Mechanism this year, we financed by more than €14 million to support the RescEU fleet capacity with 10 canadairs, 1 heavy helicopter and two air tractors.

"We are planning to purchase 12 additional aircraft under (the project) rescEU. When national capacities are overwhelmed, (this protection force) is ready to step in to provide additional support to confront disasters in Europe.

"This year, for the very first time in the EU's history, the Commission is financing the prepositioning of 204 firefighters and ground vehicles from Bulgaria, Finland, France, Germany, Norway and Romania to Greece during July and August. The first teams already arrived last week," he added.

Droughts are also increasingly a problem. The Italian government declared a state of emergency earlier this week in five regions because of a drought in the Po basin that has brought water reserves to their lowest levels in decades.

Nearly all of Portugal also faces "severe drought" after the hottest May in 92 years.

Šefčovič said when it comes to droughts the bloc has "the way how to respond in the short term, emergency measures through our EUCP (EU Civil protection) mechanisms and through our recently refurbished and upgraded EU wide early warning systems."

"And in the long run, what we need to do is to scale up better water use. In agriculture, we have to look at sustainable soil management and vegetation cover and we have to invest, as it was said by many, (in) drought resistant crops and restore damaged areas," he said.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
A monster hit and a billion-dollar toy empire
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
Canada: Nurse Suspended and Fined 93 Thousand Dollars After Stating the World’s Most Well-Known Fact Since the Creation of Adam and Eve, That There Are Only Two Genders
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
U.S. Treasury Secretary Whitney Bessent Backs Stablecoins to Boost Treasury Demand
Spain to Declare Disaster Zones After Massive Wildfires
Three-Minute Battery Swap Touted as Future of EVs
Beijing Military Parade to Showcase Weapons Advances
U.S. Tech Stocks Slide on AI Boom Concerns
White House Confirms Talks Over Intel Stake
Trump Suggests U.S. Could Support Ukraine ‘By Air’
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
UK Government Tries to Sue 4chan for Breaching Online Safety Act
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
"Every Centimeter of Your Body Is a Masterpiece": The Shocking Meta Document Revealed
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
China Requires Data Centres to Source Majority of AI Chips Locally, For Technological Sovereignty
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
Jellyfish Swarm Triggers Shutdown at Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in Northern France
OpenAI’s ‘PhD-Level’ ChatGPT 5 Stumbles, Struggles to Even Label a Map
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×