2018 Greece Wildfires More than 80 Dead [PHOTO GALLERY]

Meatpie

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More than 80 people have died in wildfires in the Attica region around Athens, in Greece's worst fire crisis in more than a decade.

A local official gave the death toll to local media after flames devastated the seaside village of Mati.

Rescuers found the bodies of 26 adults and children who apparently hugged each other as they died, trapped by the inferno just metres from the sea.



Many calls have been made to the rescue services looking for missing persons.

Hundreds of firefighters have been battling the blazes and the authorities are seeking international assistance.

"We will do whatever is humanly possible to control it," Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told reporters.
 
40 People Still Missing in Deadliest Fire in Greek History



Photo taken in Mati this morning shows police and relatives still searching for dozens of loved ones who are still missing presumed drowned at sea.
 
Greece has had more than its share of problems. It's discouraging to learn that so many people died in an inferno when they were only meters from water.
 
Reports so far indicate many were trapped in cars or inside their homes with road to the sea cut off by flames. Several weeks ago you posted that you were not afraid of climate change but it seems increasingly likely you will perish in a climate related disaster in your area as well.

We are dying from rain here state of emergency has been declared today. No one in my neighbourhood has seen so much rain even grannies 90 years old and above are in shock from the changing weather patterns.

Just like in the Republic of Gilead in the TV series The Handmaid's Tale the seasons are messed up and summers are cold and it's raining day and night.
 
Even the British Tabloid the Sun is now Posting Ominous Articles about Climate Change

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Temperatures in excess of 38°C forecast for parts of France and Germany

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The UK from above today looking a little parched

Summers with extreme heat will become the norm for Britain in the next decades as global warming intensifies.

 
How does June 2018 temperature anomalies compare to the past 50 Junes

 
Animation from MetOffice posted minutes ago shows current position of the jet stream

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I'm thankful I live where circumstances are not YET dire. All of this climate-related disruption and chaos will no doubt fuel gun sales. People will feel the need to have a means of defending themselves from hordes of displaced and desperate victims. It is already reminiscent of many post-apocalyptic tales.
 
That is a distressing and depressing article. I don't know what to do except try not to think about it. There's no point in my worrying. Having great wealth is more important than ever. The rich will survive, and those less rich will die.
 
Summers with extreme heat will become the norm for Britain in the next decades as global warming intensifies.


Yes, much of southern England is like that (I can't see any clues to quite where that photo is, but it's broadly a southern landcape, and I'm guessing either Chilternsa to East Anglia, or central southern England). Up here it's less extreme - temperatures less high, and the drought has never gone over 2-3 weeks without at least a little measurable rain. Now loo0ks like we really are going to get a major breakdown over the next few days, with much lower temperatures, pretty well everywhere getting some heavy rain - though perhaps flooding from intense thunderstorms in places. That may be the end of the heatwave, but there are hints it may resume in about a week.
 
Continuing Meatpie's theme:
Original article has some pics and graphics, including comparison of this year's global temperatures with 1976 (probably our longest previous heatwave in Britain). In 1976 the global distribution of hot and cold areas more-or-less balanced out, this year the hots are far more intense and extensive than the colds (though at least Greenland is in one of the few coldspots, so this won't be contributing to sea level rise as quickly and directly as it might have done).

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jul/24/why-is-europe-going-through-a-heatwave

Why is Europe going through a heatwave?
Scientists say this ‘extreme’ weather in the northern hemisphere may soon be the norm
Why is it so hot?
Partly, it’s just the luck of the weather. The jet stream – the west-to-east winds that play a big role in determining Europe’s weather – has been further north than usual for about two months. A stationary high-pressure weather system has left the UK and much of continental Europe sweltering. Iceland, by contrast, has been hit with clouds and storms that would normally come further south.
The jet stream’s northerly position may have been influenced by temperatures in the north of the Atlantic, which have been relatively warm in the subtropics and colder south of Greenland.
“The current hot and dry spell in the UK is partly due a combination of North Atlantic ocean temperatures, climate change and the weather,” said Len Shaffrey, a professor of climate science at the University of Reading.
The influence of climate change on the jet stream is still being explored.
Is climate change to blame?
The heatwaves in the northern hemisphere are undoubtedly linked to global warming, scientists say. “There’s no question human influence on climate is playing a huge role in this heatwave,” said Prof Myles Allen, a climate scientist at the University of Oxford.
On Thursday the university will publish an analysis of how much more likely climate change made Europe’s current heatwave. Similar heatwaves have happened in the past when the planet was cooler – the world was two-thirds of a degree celsius cooler in 1976, a notably hot year in the UK. But climate change made them happen more often, Allen said.
Prof Peter Stott, a science fellow at the Met Office, said global warming of 1C since the industrial revolution was clearly making extreme heat more likely. “It is increasing quite significantly the risk of such a heatwave. The temperatures of 30C (86F) and above this week have gone from being a very rare occurrence to, not a frequent occurrence, but much more likely,” he said.
The wide geographical spread of the heatwave, right across four continents, also points to global warming as the culprit. “That pattern is something we wouldn’t be seeing without climate change,” Stott said.
Britons are only somewhat worried about climate change, according to the British Social Attitudes tracker. Wildfires, such as those that have occurred recently in northern England, are one reason to be more concerned. “The moorland fires is an example of an impact that comes with such prolonged heatwaves,” Stott said.
Older people are vulnerable to extremes of heat, with 20,000 people believed to have died across Europe in the 2003 heatwave. Transport infrastructure suffers, with rail lines buckling. The other major short-term impact is on agriculture. Shaffrey said the hot, dry spell was wreaking havoc on farming. Heatwaves in other countries will probably cut yields of crops that the UK imports, pushing up prices.
Longer-term, the green and pleasant landscape of the UK may vanish if rainfall patterns change because of global warming. “People might like a Mediterranean climate but it will be very different. For wildlife, a change of that magnitude could be very traumatic because it has nowhere to go,” said Allen.
Is this a sign of things to come?
Yes. “It’s a warning of what we will have to deal with,” said Stott. Michael Mann, a US climate scientist, tweeted: “What we call an ‘extreme heatwave’ today we will simply call ‘summer’ in a matter of decades if we do not sharply reduce carbon emissions.”
 
Floods reported in the Athens metropolitan area today

 
Greece has not enough water to extinguish its fires in one location, and too much water in another. It's not fair.
 
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