Wildfires are burning Greece

Greece is under the flames of wildfire and The European Commission has said that the blaze, which has been burning for two weeks now, is the largest on record in Europe.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that other deadly fires across Greece were expected to consume more than 150,000 hectares (370,600 acres) of land.  

He further added, “Is the climate crisis the alibi for everything? No, it is not an alibi but it is part of the interpretation.”

Climate change is a theme the government has touched on repeatedly in the context of the wildfires and this year being the worst hit by climate change resulted in certainly stronger wildfires than those of previous years.

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Mitsotakis referred to the growing climate crisis, the summer’s extended heatwave in Greece and the hot dry winds that had fuelled the fires.

He further pointed out that Greece was far from being the only country to suffer such massive wildfires, pointing to similar disasters this summer in Canada, Spain and the United States.

But the National Observatory of Athens was having none of that, hitting back in a statement issued on Friday stating that “In a democracy and in the era of published data at the European and international level, science and the national research centers are obliged to inform society of the results of their activities and the natural conditions that affect the lives of citizens.