Climate change, which has led to high temperatures and decreasing rainfall, has made massive wildfires in Greece, Cyprus and Turkey this summer much more ferocious, a new study says, writes Ekathimerini.
The World Weather Attribution study says that the fires, which have killed 20 people, forced the evacuation of 80,000 and burned over 1 million hectares (2.47 million acres), were 22% more intense in 2025, the worst recorded year for wildfires in Europe.
Hundreds of wildfires that broke out in the eastern Mediterranean in June and July, were caused by temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius, extremely dry conditions and strong winds.
"Our study finds an extremely strong signal of climate change towards hotter and drier conditions", said Theodore Keeping, a researcher at the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London.
"Today, with temperatures rising by 1.3 degrees Celsius, we are seeing new extremes in wildfire behaviour that have pushed firefighters to their limits. But we are headed for a 3 degree Celsius rise in temperatures this century unless countries move away from fossil fuels more quickly," said Keeping.
The analysis also found an increase in the intensity of high-pressure systems, which have boosted the extreme northerly winds that have fueled wildfires.
Climate change is "causing more bad wildfire seasons" in the Mediterranean, said Flavio Lehner, an associate professor of Earth and atmospheric sciences at Cornell University.
Global warming! Climate change has intensified wildfires in the Balkans
Hundreds of wildfires that broke out in the eastern Mediterranean in June and July were caused by temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius, extremely dry conditions and strong winds
Aug 28, 2025 12:42 629
