A total of 1,470 wildfires occurred in the month of July, Civil Protection and Climate Crisis Minister Vassilis Kikilias announced on Tuesday. These wildfires burned 470,000 acres, the meteo service of the National Observatory of Athens said in a report evaluating the impact of the heatwave in July 2023.
In addition to the record high temperatures and their effect on the temperatures of the Greek seas, the very high temperatures and dry atmospheric conditions that affected Greece during the recent heatwave in July also created an environment extremely favorable for the occurrence of large forest fires, the meteo report stressed.
It is characteristic that during the period from July 15 to 31, seven large forest fires occurred in the country (Corfu, Aigio, Dervenochoria, Attiki/Kouvaras, Karystos, Nea Aghialos, Rhodes) which burned a total area approaching 470,000 acres , according to the Copernicus Rapid Mapping Service of the European Commission.
Since the beginning of the year, a total of approximately 550,000 acres have burned in Greece, according to the European Observatory for Forest Fires. The following map shows these 7 major wildfires, noting the area each one burned.
Figure 1. The large forest fires of July 2023 in Greece. Data source: Copernicus Emergency Mapping Service.
The approximately 550,000 acres of burned land since the beginning of 2023 is already 30% more than the total land burned on average in our country (~435,000 acres) per year, according to the analysis of the data of the European Forest Fire Observatory for period 2006 – 2022. It is also noteworthy that the number of forest fires that occurred and were mapped in our country until July 30, 2023 does not show any significant increase.
Figure 2. Course of total burned areas (upper diagram) and number (lower diagram) of forest fires in Greece for the period from January 1 to July 29. The trajectory for 2023 (red line) and the average for the period 2006 – 2022 (black line) are shown. Data source: European Forest Fire Observatory.
As noted at the beginning, a significant contribution to the intensity and extent of the forest fires in July in Greece was played by the fire-meteorological conditions formed due to the recent heatwave. The next set of maps shows the estimated ease of ignition and speed of spread for the periods 01 – 11.07.2023 (before the heatwave), 12 – 23.07.2023 (during the heatwave) and 24 – 26.07.2023 (end of heatwave) based on the Canadian Fire Meteorological Index System as calculated daily by the METEO/EAA FLAME Pyrometeorological Team based on measurements from the METEO unit’s automatic weather stations.
What is very characteristically recorded is the significant increase in flammability (ease of ignition) and speed of spread in almost the entire country due to the very high temperatures and dry atmospheric conditions of the recent heatwave.
Regarding the 7 major forest fires of July 2023, it is easy to see that during their occurrence and the main phase of their spread, the respective affected counties were at high and/or very high estimated ignition ease and speed of spread . This observation highlights the imperative of monitoring pyrometeorological conditions by exploiting existing meteorological station networks and developing new pyrometeorological networks. Through the measurements of these networks, it is possible to monitor the course of fire-meteorological conditions in real time and, therefore, to strengthen our preparedness for the occurrence of potentially large and destructive forest fires.
Figure 3. Estimated ignition ease and spread speed for the period before the heat wave (top, 01 – 11.07.2023), during the heat wave (middle, 12 – 23.07.2023) and the end of the heat wave (bottom, 24 – 26.07.2023).
source: meteo.gr