A wildfire near Athens has burned an area almost twice the size of Manhattan, according to an EU estimate. The Attica region is at risk of desertification.
According to a European Union satellite mapping agency, 104 square kilometers of land were burned northeast of Athens this week duringA deadly fire that devastated dozens of homes and prompted many countries to send aid.
The Copernicus Emergency Management Service announced the damage estimate on Wednesday, a day after the fire was contained as part of a massive effort that ended on the outskirts of the capital.
A worker was killed in the fire that swept through mountainous areas to the south, covering an area almost twice as high to that of Manhattan and covering the Greek capital with a thick cloud of smoke.
Nine countriesincluding neighboring Turkey, have sent aid to Greece to strengthen teams on the ground and water dropping planes and helicopters operating outside Athens.
The fire follows successive heat waves in southern Europe and low rainfall this year.
Attica “a real powder keg”
According to scientiststhese conditions have transformed Attica into a veritable powder keg, where a small spark can lead to tragic consequences.
However, given that These phenomena are repeated every In summer, preparation must be significant, multifaceted and interdisciplinary, according to experts.
Thodoris Giannaros is a researcher at the Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development of National Observatory of Athenswhich nearly burned in the recent fire.
”We should all agree that when we have a wildfire that occupies this area and reaches the urban fabric of a city like Athens, something has gone wrong.”
“What you have to do in real time when you have a fire of this magnitude is what we call tactical fire analysis.”
“In other words, it’s about knowing where the fire is, when it’s there, with precise mapping of its perimeter, so that using weather data, vegetation and topography, we can predict where it’s going to move, how it’s going to behave. With this knowledge, it’s possible to develop an effective strategy for intercepting it.er.” He said.
Experts agree Now to say that if appropriate measures are not taken, the risk of desertification of Attica, due to the last catastrophic fire, is more than predictable.
According to an updated estimate by the National Observatory of Athens, over the past eight years, 450 square kilometers of forest burned in the Attica regionwhich includes Athens. This represents 37% of the forest area total of the region.
