
Climate change made European heatwave up to 4C hotter
Human-caused climate change made the recent European heatwave up to 4C hotter in many cities, scientists said on Wednesday, pushing temperatures into deadly territory for thousands of vulnerable people.
Global warming "amplified this heatwave by approximately 2 to 4 degrees (Celsius) across most of the cities" studied, said Ben Clarke from Imperial College London, which led the research with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
- June was hottest on record in western Europe -
Western Europe recorded its hottest ever June last month, as "extreme" temperatures blasted the region in punishing back-to-back heatwaves, the EU's Copernicus climate monitor said Wednesday.
Globally, June was the third-warmest on record, continuing a blistering heat streak that saw the hottest and second-hottest Junes in 2024 and 2023 respectively, Copernicus said.

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MTV Lebanon
a day ago
- MTV Lebanon
Greece gets EU help to battle disastrous wildfires
Greece battled wildfires that have ravaged homes and sparked evacuations for a second day on Sunday, with the help of Czech firefighters and Italian aircraft expected to arrive later. Fires were still raging Sunday morning in the Peloponnese area west of the capital, as well as on the islands of Evia and Kythera, with aircraft and helicopters resuming their work in several parts of the country at dawn. 'Today is expected to be a difficult day with a very high risk of fire, almost throughout the territory,' fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said Sunday, though he added that the situation was improving. Forecasters predicted the strong winds that have fanned the flames would die down on Sunday in most areas but warned that Kythera, an popular tourist island with 3,600 inhabitants, continued to face 'worrying' windy conditions. Evacuation messages were sent to people on the island, which lies off the south-eastern tip of the Peloponnese, early on Sunday as the fire was raging unabated. 'Houses, beehives, olive trees have been burnt,' Giorgos Komninos, deputy mayor of Kythera, told state-run ERT News channel. 'A monastery is in direct danger right now,' he said, adding that half of the island had been burnt. Dozens of firefighters supported by three helicopters and two aircraft were battling the Kythera blaze, which erupted Saturday morning and forced the evacuation of a popular tourist beach. Greece had earlier requested help from EU allies and two Italian aircraft were expected Sunday, according to the fire brigade, with units from the Czech Republic already at work. Heatwave conditions Eleven regions of Greece still face a very high fire risk, according to officials. Firefighters are working in several areas of the Peloponnese and there were numerous flare-ups overnight on the island of Evia, near Athens, where the flames have laid waste to swathes of forest and killed thousands of farm animals. Workings have been scrambling since dawn to repair serious damage to Evia's electricity network and some villages were facing problems with water supply. Further south on Crete, reports said fires that broke out on Saturday afternoon and destroyed four houses and a church and largely been contained. Police were reportedly bolstering forces in Kryoneri north of Athens, as fears grow that looters could target houses abandoned by their owners fleeing a fire that erupted on Saturday afternoon but was mostly contained on Sunday. Greece has endured heatwave conditions for almost a week, with temperatures passing 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in many areas. On Saturday, the temperature reached 45.2C in Amfilohia, in western Greece. The extreme heat is expected to die down from Monday. Last month, fires on Greece's fifth-biggest island Chios, in the northern Aegean, destroyed 4,700 hectares (11,600 acres) of land, while early July a wildfire on Crete forced the evacuation of 5,000 people. The most destructive year for wildfires was 2023, when nearly 175,000 hectares were lost and there were 20 deaths.


Nahar Net
3 days ago
- Nahar Net
Outdoor work becomes hellish in southern Europe's tourist hot spots
by Naharnet Newsdesk 25 July 2025, 16:01 Cruel heat is baking southern Europe as the continent slips deeper into summer. In homes and offices, air conditioning is sweet relief. But under the scorching sun, outdoor labor can be grueling, brutal, occasionally even deadly. A street sweeper died in Barcelona during a heat wave last month and, according to a labor union, 12 other city cleaners have suffered heatstroke since. Some of Europe's powerful unions are pushing for tougher regulations to protect the aging workforce from climate change on the world's fastest-warming continent. Cleaning the hot streets Hundreds of street cleaners and concerned citizens marched through downtown Barcelona last week to protest the death of Montse Aguilar, a 51-year-old street cleaner who worked even as the city's temperatures hit a June record. Fellow street sweeper Antonia Rodríguez said at the protest that blistering summers have made her work "unbearable." "I have been doing this job for 23 years and each year the heat is worse," said Rodríguez, 56. "Something has to be done." Extreme heat has fueled more than 1,000 excess deaths in Spain so far in June and July, according to the Carlos III Health Institute. "Climate change is, above all, playing a role in extreme weather events like the heat waves we are experiencing, and is having a big impact in our country," said Diana Gómez, who heads the institute's daily mortality observatory. Even before the march, Barcelona's City Hall issued new rules requiring the four companies contracted to clean its streets to give workers uniforms made of breathable material, a hat and sun cream. When temperatures reach 34 C (93 F), street cleaners now must have hourly water breaks and routes that allow time in the shade. Cleaning work will be suspended when temperatures hit 40 C (104 F). Protesters said none of the clothing changes have been put into effect and workers are punished for allegedly slacking in the heat. They said supervisors would sanction workers when they took breaks or slowed down. Workers marched behind a banner reading "Extreme Heat Is Also Workplace Violence!" and demanded better summer clothing and more breaks during the sweltering summers. They complained that they have to buy their own water. FCC Medio Ambiente, the company that employed the deceased worker, declined to comment on the protesters' complaints. In a previous statement, it offered its condolences to Aguilar's family and said that it trains its staff to work in hot weather. Emergency measures and a Greek cook In Greece, regulations for outdoor labor such as construction work and food delivery includes mandatory breaks. Employers are also advised — but not mandated — to adjust shifts to keep workers out of the midday sun. Greece requires heat-safety inspections during hotter months but the country's largest labor union, the GSEE, is calling for year-round monitoring. European labor unions and the United Nations' International Labor Organization are also pushing for a more coordinated international approach to handling the impact of rising temperatures on workers. "Heat stress is an invisible killer," the ILO said in a report last year on how heat hurts workers. It called for countries to increase worker heat protections, saying Europe and Central Asia have experienced the largest spike in excessive worker heat exposure this century. In Athens, grill cook Thomas Siamandas shaves meat from a spit in the threshold of the famed Bairaktaris Restaurant. He is out of the sun, but the 38 C (100.4 F) temperature recorded on July 16 was even tougher to endure while standing in front of souvlaki burners. Grill cooks step into air-conditioned rooms when possible and always keep water within reach. Working with a fan pointed at his feet, the 32-year-old said staying cool means knowing when to take a break, before the heat overwhelms you. "It's tough, but we take precautions: We sit down when we can, take frequent breaks and stay hydrated. We drink plenty of water — really a lot," said Siamandas, who has worked at the restaurant for eight years. "You have to find a way to adjust to the conditions." The blazing sun in Rome Massimo De Filippis spends hours in the blazing sun each day sharing the history of vestal virgins, dueling gladiators and powerful emperors as tourists shuffle through Rome's Colosseum and Forum. "Honestly, it is tough. I am not going to lie," the 45-year-old De Filippis said as he wiped sweat from his face. "Many times it is actually dangerous to go into the Roman Forum between noon and 3:30 p.m." At midday on July 22, he led his group down the Forum's Via Sacra, the central road in ancient Rome. They paused at a fountain to rinse their faces and fill their bottles. Dehydrated tourists often pass out here in the summer heat, said Francesca Duimich, who represents 300 Roman tour guides in Italy's national federation, Federagit. "The Forum is a pit; There is no shade, there is no wind," Duimich said. "Being there at 1 p.m. or 2 p.m. in the summer heat means you will feel unwell." This year, guides have bombarded her with complaints about the heat. In recent weeks, Federagit requested that the state's Colosseum Archaeological Park, which oversees the Forum, open an hour earlier so tours can get a jump-start before the heat becomes punishing. The request has been to no avail, so far. The park's press office said that administrators are working to move the opening up by 30 minutes and will soon schedule visits after sunset.


Nahar Net
3 days ago
- Nahar Net
Fires engulf Turkey's Mediterranean coast as government declares 2 disaster zones
by Naharnet Newsdesk 25 July 2025, 15:59 New wildfires broke out on Turkey's Mediterranean coast Friday, as the government declared two western provinces in the country to be disaster zones. Images showed flames and smoke billowing into the sky close to high-rise apartment buildings in Antalya, where local and foreign visitors flock during the summer months. Homes were evacuated in the city center and the outlying district of Aksu as the fire advanced, privately owned news agency DHA reported. Firefighters struggled to extinguish the blazes before strong winds could spread the fire, which closed a major coastal road. Further along the coast, homes in the city of Manavgat were also threatened. Local residents with hoses and buckets rushed to assist firefighters as water-dropping helicopters and planes also battled the flames. Police water cannons and municipal water trucks were also enlisted in the firefighting efforts. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said Friday that Izmir and Bilecik provinces had been declared "disaster areas affecting public life," one step below the most serious level of emergency. Between June 27 and Thursday, residents from 120 neighborhoods nationwide were evacuated, Yerlikaya added, and more than 12,000 workers under the ministry's authority, such as police and rescue staff, had fought the fires. In a social media post, the minister said 311 homes had been destroyed or seriously damaged during the monthlong blazes and 85 temporary housing units were set up across three western provinces for those made homeless. Turkey has faced widespread outbreaks of forest fires since late June. Thirteen people have died, including 10 rescue volunteers and forestry workers killed Wednesday in a fire in Eskisehir, western Turkey. The funerals for the 10 were on Thursday. Temperatures above seasonal norms have been exacerbated by strong winds and dry conditions, resulting in dozens of wildfires. East of Antalya, fires broke out in Adana and Mersin on Friday. Elsewhere in the country, firefighters continued battling blazes in Eskisehir and nearby Karabuk that have been raging for several days. The heat wave in the eastern Mediterranean region saw 1,000 firefighters and soldiers battle flames in Albania as temperatures reached 42 C (107 F). In the Albanian city of Elbasan, firefighters have been combating a weeklong blaze in the country's central mountain forests. Fires have also broke out near the southern border with Greece.