The source of the fires on the Island of Rhodes has become the focus of debate. The Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday, August 2nd, on Britain’s ITV, that although “wildfires have always affected the Mediterranean,” the blaze has increased its intensity “as a consequence of climate change.” The Greek minister of the climate crisis and civil protection, meanwhile, had earlier in the week blamed arsonists.
The blaze broke out on July 18th in central Rhodes and fanned by strong winds, the flames spread to the eastern and southern coasts, areas with many beach resorts. Greece said it carried out the largest evacuation ever undertaken in the country. More than 20,000 tourists and locals were forced to flee their homes and seaside hotels.
Mitsotakis stated that no lives have been lost in the fires and no injuries have been reported, “We managed to evacuate 20,000 people very, very safely.” The fires affected less than 50 square kilometres, which represents only 5% of the island; the rest of Rhodes is perfectly back to normal, he added.
Flames also devastated forests on the islands of Corfu and Evia. The government believes most of them were started by arsonists, and could have been prevented. “Unfortunately, the majority were ignited by human hand, either by criminal negligence or intent,” Vasilis Kikilias, the Greek minister of climate crisis and civil protection, said last week. In certain places, blazes had broken out at numerous points in close proximity at the same time, suggesting the involvement of arsonists intent on spreading the fires further. He acknowledged, however, that climate change—evident in extreme weather conditions that produce strong winds—made it easier for the fires to spread.
Greek authorities are, therefore, planning tougher penalties for arson: fines for causing fires deliberately or because of negligent behaviour could carry a fine of up to $55,000 and a maximum jail sentence of ten years. “It is not just the sentences and fines that will be increased tenfold when it comes to arsonists. Similar obligations will stand for citizens who are required by law to clear the area surrounding their home and don’t do so,” Vasilis Kikilias said.
Despite the continued evidence that many fires (blamed on climate change) are actually the work of arsonists, the mainstream view primarily blames human-caused climate change and global warming for the forest fires occurring in Greece, Europe, and the rest of the world.
For example, Dr. Matthew Kasoar, research associate in earth Systems Modelling at Imperial College’s Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment, and Society, told The Independent:
Fire risk increases rapidly when there are periods of prolonged hot weather, which allow the soil and vegetation to completely dry out … Climate change has increased the severity, frequency, and duration of heat waves.
Reports of July 2023 as the hottest month in recorded history, from the World Meteorological Organization and Europe’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, reinforce the opinion that higher temperatures (and flammable material) are caused by climate change.
Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal points to data that claims the opposite. According to the newspaper, the world hit a new record-low of 2.2% burned area in 2022, compared to 3% in the early 2000s.
Other experts challenge the data, and consequently come to different conclusions. “Tracking by the Global Wildfire Information System shows that more land has burned in the Americas than usual. But much of the rest of the world has seen lower burning—Africa and especially Europe,” says Bjørn Lomborg, president of the Copenhagen Consensus think-tank and the author of the article.
Similarly, when wildfires in Australia caught the attention of the world in 2019-2020, they scorched 4% of Australian land, compared to 8% recorded in the early 2000s. Lomborg believes, along with many climate change sceptics, that “prescribed burning, improved zoning and enhanced land management are much faster, more effective and cheaper solutions for fires than climate policy.”
As journalist Tristan Vanheuckelom pointed out, reacting to last year’s continental high temperatures:
Some academic voices have criticisms as to where temperatures are mostly measured—especially when used in the promotion of zero-carbon agendas to combat climate change. Research by Canadian professor in environmental economics Ross McKitrick and others shows that about half of all land surface temperature measurements in use are taken near airport runways.
By virtue of these featuring heat-radiating tarmac and concrete, containing industrial buildings as well as being subject to constant superheated jet exhausts measuring hundreds of degrees centigrade, it is then little surprise these would show higher temperatures compared with measurements made by satellites and meteorological balloons.
Climate change consensus among governments and policy makers will be necessary to move ahead with the green transition, but suppressing effective forest management, funding shady reports, and ignoring the role arsonists play in forest fires will not help move their agenda along.
