Greece: After fires, experts sound alarm over grim climate future

Dire forecasts of lower rainfall, higher temperatures and more frequent droughts mean Greece faces peril ahead.

Athens, Greece – Climate experts say last month’s wildfires that razed 100,000 hectares (247,000 acres) of Greek forest are only a small sampling of the environmental and economic devastation the country will face due to a warming planet this century.

The fires came in the wake of a heatwave, repeating a pattern seen in two other nationwide conflagrations in 2007 and 1987; and the phenomenon is worsening, geophysicist Christos Zerefos told Al Jazeera.

“This heatwave was the longest that ever struck our country,” he said. “In 1987 it lasted five days. In 2007 it was six days. And now 11 days. It keeps on increasing.”