This week, the historic Castelo de Palmela was covered in black smoke as 200 firefighters battled the blaze.
According to a report by the Financial Times, the great heat wave affecting Europe has caused uncontrollable wildfires in Portugal.
This week, the historic Castelo de Palmela was covered in black smoke as 200 firefighters battled the blaze. “People have lost a lifetime’s worth of work,” fire chief Octávio Machado told reporters.
This summer, with the very high temperatures observed throughout Europe, similar disasters are affecting a large part of the continent.
Apart from Spain, similar phenomena have already occurred this year in France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Croatia and Turkey. Severe winter drought followed by intense summer heat creates the hot and dry climate that may trigger wildfires.
This is the second heat wave to hit Europe and is due to the high pressure atmospheric system over Europe that is bringing warm air from Africa.
Mark McCarthy of the Met Office’s National Climate Information Center believes that “heatwave is a phenomenon that is becoming more frequent due to climate change”.
Efi Rousi, head of research on Climate Change at the Potsdam Institute points out that the heat wave is a phenomenon that has been observed with greater frequency in recent years.
In the case of Portugal, wildfires have already destroyed houses in several villages in the south and center of the country, where mainly pines and highly flammable eucalyptus cover more than a third of the territory. The town of Pinhão recorded a temperature of 47°C this week, a record temperature for Portugal in July.
The country’s Prime Minister António Costa canceled his official visit to Mozambique to oversee firefighting operations and declared a state of emergency, the duration of which will depend on the prevailing weather conditions.
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