The entire Mediterranean region is burning. Here’s why it will get worse

Wildfires have raged through southern Europe in the past few weeks, and the apocalyptic scenes are just the beginning, reports Borzou Daragahi

It is the storied sea traversed by Odysseus and the Vikings, a body of water that has been the wellspring of civilisations, culture and commerce as well as countless myths and legends. It is the holiday destination for millions of people who enjoy its splendid beaches, verdant islands and ancient ruins.

But the Mediterranean Sea littoral is turning into a wasteland, as shown by the vast fires engulfing parts of Greece, Turkey, Italy, Algeria and Tunisia.

“It’s going to be a desert climate all around the Mediterranean by the end of the century,” says Levent Kurmaz, head of the Centre for Climate Change and Policy Studies at Istanbul’s Bogazici University.

Scientists say the region’s unique geographic location – a body of water sandwiched between three giant land masses – makes it particularly vulnerable to climate change. The region is already outpacing global average temperature increases by more than 20 per cent since the end of the 19th century. Researchers have detected numerous disturbing patterns that have included hotter temperatures and altered rainfall patterns.

“I am definitely seeing varying trends in the Mediterranean basin in terms of droughts getting harsher [and] a bit more unpredictable and frequent, average temperatures increasing and extreme heat waves,” says California-based climate researcher Gokce Sencan.

Fires have laid waste to tens of thousands of hectares of woodland in vast stretches along the Mediterranean coast in the past few weeks. At least eight people have died in Turkey, where fires have been concentrated in the southwest. Four people have been killed in wildfires in the wooded mountain region of Kabylia in Algeria, east of the capital.

Tunisia’s Bizerte province was hit by a wildfire on Monday amid strong winds and temperatures blasting as high as 122F (50C). Morocco suffered wildfires in July that destroyed 1,200 hectares of forest.

Greece’s prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said 586 fires had erupted over the last week throughout the country.

August 2021

INDEPENDENT