Wildfires tore through parts of France, Spain and Portugal on Thursday as heatwaves baked Europe and the head of the European Space Agency urged immediate action to fight climate change.
More than 1,000 firefighters, backed by water-bombing planes, battled for a third day a “monster” blaze that has forced thousands from their homes and scorched thousands of hectares of forest in France’s southwestern Gironde region.
With a dangerous cocktail of blistering temperatures, tinder-box conditions and wind fanning the flames, President Emmanuel Macron said several European Union nations were deploying reinforcements to help beat back the blaze.
“It’s an ogre, a monster,” said Gregory Allione from the French firefighters body FNSPF said.
Heatwaves, floods and crumbling glaciers in recent weeks have heightened concerns over climate change and the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather across the globe.
The head of the European Space Agency, Josef Aschbacher, said rising land temperatures and shrinking rivers as measured from space left no doubt about the toll on agriculture and other industries from climate change.
ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellite series has measured “extreme” land surface temperatures of more than 45C (113F) in Britain, 50C in France and 60C in Spain in recent weeks.
“It’s pretty bad. We have seen extremes that have not been observed before,” Aschbacher told Reuters.
