Spain struggles to control wildfires.

On May 20th, more than 200 soldiers and hundreds of Spanish firefighters were deployed across the country, with the support of their Portuguese counterparts, in an effort to control a wildfire that was spiraling out of control in the western Extremadura region.

Spanish firefighters are working to extinguish wildfires in the villages of Cadalso, Descargamaria, and Robledillo de Gata, in the Sierra de Gata region of Caceres, Extremadura. (Source: EPA)

The day before, local authorities had evacuated approximately 700 residents from three villages and hoped that weather conditions would improve to help bring the fire under control soon.

The fire, which broke out on May 18th, has burned more than 8,000 hectares of forest near the border with Portugal. Wind speeds of up to 60 km/h have made controlling the blaze extremely difficult.

An unusually dry winter in southern Europe, following three years of below-average rainfall, has increased the risk of wildfires in Spain.

The situation worsened with an unusually hot spell at the end of April, causing temperatures to soar across the country. Last year, nearly 500 fires burned more than 300,000 hectares of forest in this Southern European nation.

Climate change is believed to be the primary cause of prolonged droughts, creating ideal conditions for wildfires to spread out of control and cause unprecedented material and environmental damage.

Teresa Ribera, Spain's third Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenges, noted that the impact of the climate emergency is becoming increasingly clear.

According to Ribera, droughts in Spain are occurring more frequently and severely than before due to climate change.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/tay-ban-nha-chat-vat-khong-che-dam-chay-rung-227929.html