The summer of 2021 was characterized by a multiplication of fires in a large part of the Mediterranean countries in a relatively short time.
Several countries in this area have been recording an increase in temperatures for several years.
Fires, more and more frequent and ever more violent, have swept through several hundred thousand hectares of forests in recent weeks and left people in mourning.
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The European information system on forest fires (Effis) reports a dramatic increase in the affected areas, in Greece and Italy in particular, compared to the averages of previous years.
The Maghreb ignites
The deadly fires that ravaged northern Algeria this year are at the heart of a diplomatic controversy. According to the latest figures communicated to AFP, the country is seriously shaken by this tragedy which began on August 9 in 26 wilayas (prefectures). At least 90 people lost their lives and 33 of them are believed to be soldiers. If calm has returned since Wednesday, the deficiencies of the fire services have been blamed. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said most of the fires were of
“criminal”
origin
and 22 suspects were arrested. A diplomatic crisis erupted with Morocco when the Algerian authorities accused their neighbor of being involved in the start of these deadly fires.
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In the public opinion, the lynching and the immolation of a man wrongly accused of pyromania in Kabylia are scandalous.
The Algerian government has questioned a Kabyle independence organization which has denied any involvement and called for the launch of an international investigation into the fires and lynching of the young man.
The kingdom of Morocco experienced an exceptional heat wave at the beginning of July, which favored the appearance of about twenty fires at the beginning of August.
The latter are responsible for the destruction of more than 1,200 hectares of forests but were brought under control at the start of the week.
Italy and Greece particularly affected
In these two countries, the fires of recent weeks have caused the meters to explode.
In Italy, firefighters had to deal with more than 500 fires on the night of August 11 to 12.
At least four people are believed to have died in this country where a record temperature of 49 ° C was recorded in the shade in Syracuse.
The flames were particularly intense in the Italian boot, in Sicily and in Calabria.
The Effis records for the country a European record of 146,390 hectares of destroyed forests.
In Greece, according to data from the Copernicus agency, 90% of the 124,000 hectares burned since the start of the year have gone up in smoke in just two weeks.
Serious failures of the emergency services have been noted and specialists are already worried about a
"huge ecological crisis".
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis speaks of
“a natural disaster of exceptional magnitude”
.
The island of Evia, 200 kilometers from Athens, was hit by a giant blaze.
Nearly 3,000 people were evacuated in early August.
Turkey and Israel soar in the east
Across the Bosphorus, Turkey has faced
"the worst forest fires in its history,"
according to President Erdogan.
More than 180 fires ravaged forests and farmland at the beginning of August and highlighted the inadequacy of the means to fight the fires.
These violent fires killed eight people and sparked outrage among the Turkish population.
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In Jerusalem, images of a glowing sky as a result of the fires that set the forests around the city ablaze have caused concern. The flames approached homes and hundreds of families were evacuated. According to Reuters, these forest fires have been brought under control since Tuesday but more than 17,000 hectares have burned. In the fight against the fires, several fire trucks from the Palestinian Authority participated in the operations. The Israeli Defense Minister paid tribute to this gesture by stressing that
"mutual care and the saving of human lives are common interests for all of us".
