Southwestern France has recorded extremely high temperatures this September resulting in wildfires shredding through 1,000 hectares of forest land. The residents had to be evacuated promptly.
The fires first started on Monday when the new wildfires began in the region of south Bordeaux where temperatures had skyrocketed to 39 degrees Celsius. Following high, the Ginrode region saw 500 people being forcefully evacuated.
Similar sky-high temperatures are breaking records all over the European continent.
The fires are still raging over a good chunk of land and it does not seem like they will be extinguished soon. The efforts made by 350 firefighters had been rendered useless due to the strong gusts of winds in the region throughout Monday and late night Tuesday.
A pair of Canadair Aircraft which specialize in firefighting tasks were deployed along with a dash plane and helicopters in the southwestern region of France. The aircraft had also been overseeing the fires in the south France region over the hot summer months.
Meteo France, a french meteorology agency reported that the high temperatures during September in France, especially in the southwest were a result of a rising heatwave in the country of Morocco. The highest temperature was recorded in the region of Landes which hit a staggering 39.1 degrees Celsius.
The official authorities in the region have said that due to the fire at least four homes were destroyed along with several buildings.
According to data from European Forest Fire Information System, almost 60,000 hectares of french land were burned down due to raging fires across the nation, most of it in the southwestern regions. This figure is at least six times larger than previously recorded average data from 2006 to 2021.
French volunteers and firefighters have been waiting for catharsis for over months now, most have said it is heartbreaking to see their forests burn down while holding back tears.
French firefighters have been working tirelessly for over three months now as the fires have overshadowed almost half of the months this year. Local firefighters described the fires as a ‘sleeping demon which will be awakened anytime with the rustles of winds.”
Since the forest fires started, a large chunk of people have been displaced from their homes and have to get refuge in other french regions. Those of them that were affected in the south had to move up north where the country is currently battling with the signs of drought.
Several neighboring Europeans have extended a hand of help to France. A good amount of firefighters and volunteers have been coming to France from Romania, Greece, Italy, etc.
France is dealing with climate extremes
Experts predict that the impact of forest fires will be seen over the coming decades which are going to be tough to deal with if France’s economy will continue to take big hits from climate every coming year.
Also, the experts have been very clear that this year is just the beginning of France’s tryst with climate change as this year’s summer might be the coolest in the next 20 years.
Climate change has impacted the lives of thousands of french citizens and it is evident that the country is going to boost its efforts to combat the burden of the crisis.
IPCC officials say that the French has made a connection between global warming and the rising heatwaves in the country. Due to this awareness of Climate change is going to grow as well.
The growing restlessness over climate change is going to become massive in the coming months. The predicted fate of France in the face of climate change is also not looking good.
The heatwaves since the June of this month have been causing havoc all over Europe and people are unable to cope quickly with the newer changes. As the years progress, the changes brought along by the climate crisis will also evolve into much harsher.
It is the responsibility of the government to aid the people who will be the most affected by the changes and also make sure the conditions do not worsen by enacting laws to protect their natural resources and sustainably develop the country towards a greener future.
