A big wildfire has scorched 25,000 acres of land — twice the dimensions of Manhattan — on the fringes of Athens, the capital of and largest metropolis in Greece, based on European satellite tv for pc photographs shared on Wednesday (Aug. 14).
The Copernicus Emergency Administration Service (EMS) posted a picture to X (previously Twitter) showing the extent of the injury a day after lots of of firefighters succeeded in containing what had turn into Greece’s worst wildfire this 12 months.
The hearth first erupted on Sunday (Aug. 11) afternoon in Varnavas, a small city roughly 22 miles (35 kilometers) northeast of Athens. Fanned by robust winds and exacerbated by Greece’s hottest and driest summers on file, the hearth broke out into a number of fronts, killing at the least one particular person and injuring dozens, together with firefighters, Greek authorities mentioned.
Greek authorities requested that The Copernicus EMS — an Earth commentary program that captures satellite tv for pc imagery for emergency response throughout disasters — present an preliminary estimate of the hearth’s extent and conduct an evaluation of the injury. Photographs from the Sentinel-2 satellite tv for pc captured on Monday (Aug. 12) confirmed a complete of 168 lively flames, together with some only a few miles from the middle of Athens, the place 3 million individuals reside. Though Greece witnesses fires yearly, none have come this near the Greek capital, based on CNN.
Associated: Excessive wildfires are on the rise globally, powered by the local weather disaster
#EMSR746As the #wildfire north of #Athens 🇬🇷 continues to rage, the 🇪🇺 is working collectively to respondOur #MappingTeam has delivered its Delineation Product, which, as of 12 August, has detected:🔸+8,500 hectares of burnt space🔸23 km of fireplace fronts🔸168 lively flames pic.twitter.com/zb8SUFDUoXAugust 13, 2024
A NOAA satellite tv for pc captured smoke blowing from vivid orange fires when it handed over the area, additionally on Monday. Extending over 180 miles (300 kilometers), the smoke cloud may be seen spreading southwest towards Libya in North Africa.
Because it handed over the area yesterday, the #NOAA20 satellite tv for pc captured the #smoke plumes and warmth signatures from massive #wildfires burning close to Athens, Greece. #GreeceFires pic.twitter.com/o6mq0hYMFKAugust 13, 2024
As spells of dry climate linked to human-driven local weather change bake southern Europe in back-to-back heatwaves, fierce wildfires have additionally damaged out in Spain and elsewhere within the Balkans.
In Greece, a lot of the wildfire smoke had dissipated by Tuesday, BBC reported, abandoning hazy skies hanging over Athens. However the danger of flare ups from scattered hotspots linger over the area this week as a result of wind gusts and excessive daytime temperatures.
