IN PICTURES. Greece, United States, Brazil… Forest fires have been raging in many regions of the world in recent weeks.

A recent study found that the number and intensity of these extreme fires have more than doubled worldwide over the past twenty years, due to global warming caused by human activity.

Several regions of the world have been facing flames since the beginning of the summer. In the wake of heat waves, landscapes of ash have appeared in Canada, the United States and Turkey. A recent study published in the scientific journal Nature Ecology & Evolution establishes that the number and intensity of extreme forest fires, the most destructive and polluting, have more than doubled in the world over the past 20 years, due to global warming caused by human activity.

In Greece, a “very dangerous” A vegetation fire broke out again on Tuesday, July 9 in Patras, leading to the evacuation of a children’s hospital and residential areas in Greece’s third largest city. Authorities announced late Tuesday that the fire had been completely brought under control.

Several regions of the country, currently experiencing high temperatures, are on alert due to a significant risk of fire.Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias has warned that Greece is currently experiencing the wildfire season “the most difficult of the last 20 years”.

Civil protection has warned of the risk “very high” fires on Wednesday in six regions of the country, notably in the centre and the Peloponnese but also in Attica or on islands in the northern Aegean Sea such as Lesbos. Temperatures of 40°C with even local peaks of 41°C or 42°C are expected, while winds of 39 to 49 km/h are forecast by the Greek meteorological services.

A little further north, a heatwave has been hitting the Balkans since Monday, three weeks after the previous one caused a power outage in several countries in the region. In Albania, where temperatures are exceeding 40°C, the government announced that “any deliberate or accidental fire” was facing a 15-year prison sentence. Dozens of soldiers and firefighters have been trying to fight the fires raging in the south of the country, near the border with Greece, since Tuesday. Several fires have been brought under control and one person was arrested and charged in the morning with “arson”, but Temperatures and winds are making it difficult to fight the flames near some villages in Dropull and Finiq.

Across the Atlantic, an extreme heat wave is currently hitting California, causing the death of several people in recent days. Fires are underway in the American “Golden State”. In the Santa Barbara region, the “Lake Fire” has ravaged nearly 11,000 hectares and caused evacuations. The fire is now threatening the Neverland ranch, which long belonged to Michael Jackson.

Many firefighters are mobilized 24 hours a day. They are trying to slow down the still smoking blaze, which is getting dangerously close to homes. In one neighborhood, dozens of houses have burned and been completely destroyed, France 2 reported in a report on Monday.

Some California residents endure “not only the hottest day they have ever experienced, but also the hottest day their parents or grandparents have ever experienced”explained Daniel Swain, a climatologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, this weekend. Such intensity will continue in the American West throughout this week, according to the American weather service.

Earlier this month, firefighters have already battled several wildfires earlier this month. One in the town of Mariposa, near the famous Yosemite National Park, burned nearly 400 hectares, NASA points out.

In Canada, several major fires are underway according to the NASA map. The flames have already hit the country hard in 2023 from east to west, burning more than 15 million hectares, costing the lives of eight firefighters and forcing the evacuation of more than 235,000 people, a thousand residents of Port-Cartier, located about 500 kilometers northeast of Quebec City, were evacuated at the end of June.

Brazil is also being hit by forest fires. In recent weeks, fires have broken out in the Brazilian Pantanal, located in the center-west of the country. This wetland, the largest on the planet, recorded 3,528 fires in the first half of the year, an increase of 2018% compared to the first half of 2023The phenomenon is accentuated by an exceptional drought. But the authorities attribute these fires above all to human action, notably the practice of burning for agricultural expansion.

On the banks of the Paraguai River, a traditional community established within the Baia Negra environmental protection reserve, the first in the Pantanala, narrowly escaped the forest fires that have ravaged the Brazilian Pantanal in recent weeks. But the way of life of the “guardians” of this biodiversity sanctuary remains threatened.

In 2020, the year the Pantanal experienced its worst fires in history, 50% of the reserve was affected by flames. In June, they came very close, burning vegetation on the island of Bracinho, on the other side of the river. But the community has not been spared from the smoke, which affects the health of residents on a daily basis. “We could barely breathe”laments Virginia Paes, volunteer firefighter and president of the association of Women Producers of the Baia Negra Reserve.

In addition to the Pantanal, the Cerrado savannah also faced forest fires. It faced almost as many fire outbreaks as the Amazon in the first half of the year (13,229 compared to 13,489), breaking the previous record, which dated back to 2007 (13,214).

Since the 19th century, the Earth’s average temperature warmed by 1.1°C. Scientists have established with certainty that this increase is due to human activities, consumers of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas). This warming, unprecedented in its speed, threatens the future of our societies and biodiversity. But solutions – renewable energies, moderation, reduction of meat consumption – exist. Discover our answers to your questions on the climate crisis.