Wildfires threaten Southern Europe as temperatures soar past 40°C
ROME (AP): Major heat waves across Southern Europe have pushed temperatures above 40°C in countries including Italy, Spain and Greece, as local authorities issued fresh warnings against the risk of wildfires.
Experts link the rising frequency and intensity of these heatwaves to climate change, warning that such extreme weather events are becoming increasingly common across Europe's southern region.
Severe heat waves were recorded in Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal before the weekend, with locals and tourists alike taking shelter from the sweltering conditions.
Two-thirds of Portugal were on high alert n Sunday (June 29) for extreme heat and wildfires, with temperatures expected to top 42°C (107 F) in Lisbon.
In Italy, a few regions – Lazio, Tuscany, Calabria, Puglia and Umbria – were planning to ban some outdoor work activities during the hottest hours of the day in response to the record-high temperatures. Italian trade unions pushed the government to expand such measures at a national level.
On Sunday, the Italian Health Ministry placed 21 out of 27 monitored cities under its highest heat alert, including top holiday destinations like Rome, Milan and Naples.
In Rome, tourists tried to seek shade near popular spots like the Colosseum and the Trevi Fountain, using umbrellas and drinking from public water fountains to stay cool.
Similar scenes were reported in Milan and Naples, where street vendors sold lemonade to tourists and residents to offer some refreshment from the heat.
Greece was again on high wildfire alert because of extreme weather, with the first summer heat wave expected to continue throughout the weekend.
A large wildfire broke out south of Athens on Thursday, forcing evacuations and road closures near the ancient Temple of Poseidon. Strong winds spread the flames, damaging homes and sending smoke across the sky.
Greek authorities deployed 130 firefighters, 12 planes and 12 helicopters to battle the blaze, while police evacuated 40 people, with five areas under evacuation orders.
In Spain, locals and tourists were desperately trying to keep cool this weekend, as the country sizzled in temperatures as high as 42°C in the southern city of Seville along with other locations in southern and central parts of the country.
Southern regions of Spain recorded temperatures above seasonal averages, prompting health alerts and safety recommendations from authorities. The country's national meteorological service Aemet has said that June is set to break yet another record, becoming the hottest such month since records started.
Experts warned that intense heat can affect daily life, especially for vulnerable populations such as the elderly and children.
Local authorities advised against physical activity during the hottest hours of the day, and recommended drinking plenty of fluids.
A Lancet Public Health study published in 2024 highlighted the increasing risk of heat-related deaths because of climate change. The study predicted that heat-related deaths could more than quadruple by mid-century under current climate policies.
While more people currently die from cold than heat, the study stressed that rising temperatures will offset the benefits of milder winters, leading to a significant net increase in heat-related mortality. – AP
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Wildfires threaten Southern Europe as temperatures soar past 40°C
ROME (AP): Major heat waves across Southern Europe have pushed temperatures above 40°C in countries including Italy, Spain and Greece, as local authorities issued fresh warnings against the risk of wildfires. Experts link the rising frequency and intensity of these heatwaves to climate change, warning that such extreme weather events are becoming increasingly common across Europe's southern region. Severe heat waves were recorded in Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal before the weekend, with locals and tourists alike taking shelter from the sweltering conditions. Two-thirds of Portugal were on high alert n Sunday (June 29) for extreme heat and wildfires, with temperatures expected to top 42°C (107 F) in Lisbon. In Italy, a few regions – Lazio, Tuscany, Calabria, Puglia and Umbria – were planning to ban some outdoor work activities during the hottest hours of the day in response to the record-high temperatures. Italian trade unions pushed the government to expand such measures at a national level. On Sunday, the Italian Health Ministry placed 21 out of 27 monitored cities under its highest heat alert, including top holiday destinations like Rome, Milan and Naples. In Rome, tourists tried to seek shade near popular spots like the Colosseum and the Trevi Fountain, using umbrellas and drinking from public water fountains to stay cool. Similar scenes were reported in Milan and Naples, where street vendors sold lemonade to tourists and residents to offer some refreshment from the heat. Greece was again on high wildfire alert because of extreme weather, with the first summer heat wave expected to continue throughout the weekend. A large wildfire broke out south of Athens on Thursday, forcing evacuations and road closures near the ancient Temple of Poseidon. Strong winds spread the flames, damaging homes and sending smoke across the sky. Greek authorities deployed 130 firefighters, 12 planes and 12 helicopters to battle the blaze, while police evacuated 40 people, with five areas under evacuation orders. In Spain, locals and tourists were desperately trying to keep cool this weekend, as the country sizzled in temperatures as high as 42°C in the southern city of Seville along with other locations in southern and central parts of the country. Southern regions of Spain recorded temperatures above seasonal averages, prompting health alerts and safety recommendations from authorities. The country's national meteorological service Aemet has said that June is set to break yet another record, becoming the hottest such month since records started. Experts warned that intense heat can affect daily life, especially for vulnerable populations such as the elderly and children. Local authorities advised against physical activity during the hottest hours of the day, and recommended drinking plenty of fluids. A Lancet Public Health study published in 2024 highlighted the increasing risk of heat-related deaths because of climate change. The study predicted that heat-related deaths could more than quadruple by mid-century under current climate policies. While more people currently die from cold than heat, the study stressed that rising temperatures will offset the benefits of milder winters, leading to a significant net increase in heat-related mortality. – AP
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Brotherhood above the sea
THE medieval monastery clings almost impossibly to sheer cliffs high above the shimmering turquoise of the Aegean Sea. Rising from the rugged granite rock, its walls enclose a diverse Christian Orthodox community. The Monastery of Simonos Petra, also known as Simonopetra – or Simon's Rock – transcends country-based branches of the Christian faith, embracing monks from across the world, including converts from nations where Orthodox Christianity is not the prevailing religion. Father Simon tolling the bell to summon monks and visitors to afternoon prayers. — AP The monastery is one of 20 in the autonomous all-male monastic community of Mount Athos, known in Greek as Agion Oros, or Holy Mountain. The peninsula in northern Greece is no stranger to non-Greeks: of the 20 monasteries, one is Russian, one is Bulgarian and one is Serbian, and the presence of monks from other nations is not unusual. But Simonos Petra has the greatest range of nationalities. Father Kosmas (left) and Father Nyfmon walking in the Simonopetra. — AP 'Spiritually, there are no borders, because the Holy Mountain has an ecumenical nature' seeking to embrace all, said Archimandrite Eliseos, the abbot of Simonos Petra. This links back to the Byzantine Empire, he explained. 'We say that Byzantium was a commonwealth ... in which (different) peoples lived together in the same faith.' The monastery welcomes anyone who would like to visit – provided they are male. In a more than 1,000-year-old tradition, women are banned from the entire peninsula, which is deemed the Virgin Mary's domain. While men from other faiths can spend a few days at Mount Athos as visitors, only Orthodox men can become monks. Most of Simonos Petra's 65 monks hail from European countries where Orthodoxy is the predominant religion, such as Romania, Serbia, Russia, Moldova, Cyprus and Greece. Father Paisios being followed by cats while walking at the Simonopetra. — AP But there are others from China, Germany, Hungary, the United States, Australia, France, Lebanon and Syria. Founded in the 13th century by Saint Simon the Myrrh-bearer, the seven-storey Simonos Petra is considered an audacious marvel of Byzantine architecture. Renowned for its ecclesiastical choir, the monastery has become a symbol of resilience during its long history, recovering from three destructive fires – the most recent in the late 1800s – to embrace global Orthodoxy. It was within these walls nearly 20 years ago that Father Isaiah – who like other monks goes by one name – found the answer to a lifelong spiritual quest that had spanned half the globe. Born in Vietnam to Chinese parents, the now 50-year-old monk grew up in Switzerland, where his family moved when he was a child. 'In this Swiss environment, I was trying to understand what I'm doing, where I'm going, what is the meaning of life,' he explained on a recent morning, standing on a fifth-floor balcony next to a winch used to bring supplies up in wicker baskets from the monastery's storerooms. Father Serafeim lighting a candle inside an ossuary where the shelves are full of the skulls of the deceased monks of the Simonopetra. — AP 'While searching I found some answers through virtue, and this virtue was connected to the image of Orthodoxy,' he said, his fluent Greek bearing a hint of a foreign accent. Delving into this new faith, he found relationships based on love and a search for God, he said. His quest led him to an Orthodox monastery in France affiliated with Simonos Petra. That, in turn, led him to Mount Athos in 2006. 'It was in essence a deep searching of spiritual life, which is the answer for the meaning of life,' he said. Within the monastery, he found a brotherhood of monks from 14 countries. He decided to stay. 'We gather together with some principles, which are those of love towards our neighbour and the love for God,' Isaiah said. In the human and spiritual connections he experienced in Simonos Petras, 'I found a deep answer to everything I had been seeking in my youth'. Life in the monastery – and across Mount Athos – has changed little in the more than 1,000 years of religious presence there. Days begin long before dawn and are punctuated by prayer services followed by daily tasks, which can include farming, carpentry, winemaking, cooking, art, clerical and ecclesiastical work. Set among forested slopes, nearly every inch of Simonos Petra's land is cultivated, with the monks tending to herbs, fruit and vegetables used in the monastery's kitchen. Electricity comes from sustainable sources such as solar panels. Father Serafeim, a Lebanese-Syrian who has lived in the monastery since 2010, said Eliseos and his predecessor as abbot, the Elder Emilianos, had always embraced foreigners. 'You don't feel that you're a stranger, you feel from the start that you're an equal member of the brotherhood,' said Serafeim, who joined the monastic community seven years after he first arrived in Greece to study theology in the northern city of Thessaloniki. 'This spirit, this open spirit of the elder attracted many souls who were searching for a genuine, emphatic meaning of life,' he said. One of the oldest non-Greek monks in the monastery is Father Makarios. The Frenchman's spiritual quest began in May 1968, when as a young man he experienced first-hand the social uprising sparked by student demonstrations in Paris. His search led him to Mount Athos for the first time in 1975. 'I found this monastery and an embrace,' he said. 'I found people who understood and accepted me. They didn't judge me. 'It was very easy for me to decide that in the end, after I finish my studies, I will come to Mount Athos, I will try to see if I can become a monk.' Converting from Catholicism to Orthodoxy on Mount Athos, Makarios is now the monastery's librarian. He has been living in Simonos Petra for 46 years. Eliseos, the abbot, stresses his monastery is open to all visitors. 'We say we are open to people with love,' he says. 'Someone comes along and wants to visit Mount Athos, he visits it. ... Does he want to take it further? 'We say: 'Let's discuss it, with your will'. What does he want? Does he want to participate in this life, does he want to enter into our spirit, embrace our values and our faith? We will accept that. We will not discriminate.' — AP
