A terrible catastrophe is taking place in Greece, where a large number of wildfires, caused by the worst heatwave in years, are destroying the natural environment to an unprecedented extent, while also causing untold damage to personal and state property.
The fires are raging in the suburbs of Athens, where they have destroyed the pine forests of Varibobi and Tatoi, up the slopes of Mount Parnitha, on the island of Euboea and elsewhere.
The situation is still at this moment far from being brought under control. Our neighbouring Turks are also fighting serious fires, so we are unable to come to each other’s assistance as we would normally do. Both countries have even been obliged to enlist the help of civilians. However, we have had assistance from Cyprus, France, Roumania, Sweden, Croatia and others, who have sent planes, helicopters and firefighters.
I will not go into details, which can be read in any newspaper. I would just like to express my gratitude to the firefighters; it is a real hero’s job in the worst possible conditions, especially since there are strong winds making everything inconceivably harder.
Wildfires have got much worse worldwide in recent years, which should certainly give us cause for thought. It is lamentable that governmental reaction to obvious phenomena is so slow, and always led by political and financial considerations rather than public benefit. The destruction of nature is really the saddest thing.
Letters from Athens 
I have been watching this closely on the news, concerned for the people in danger, and my blogging friends in Greece and Turkey. I can only hope that they burn out soon, and that no more lives are lost.
Best wishes, Pete.
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More than “lamentable that governmental reaction to obvious phenomena is so slow, and always led by political and financial considerations”…. Like Pete, I am most concerned for the people in danger
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Yes, and thankfully so is the government. Their priority is people over the rest…
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Oh, good
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My heart goes out to all the firefighters and civilians trying so desperately to save their beloved homes and spare the little forests that we have, one feels so helpless when living abroad but consider Greece their home. I pray the fires stop and high temperatures drop.
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Have experienced that all too well in California 😢
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Yes, I know…
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Yes, I read about this in newspaper today. This is truly devastating indeed. Shout out to all those brave souls who are risking their own lives to save others.
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Yes…
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Nature – our most precious commodity !
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I’ve been reading about it in the papers today – and the fires in Turkey. The firefighters are doing an amazing job in appalling conditions. The politicians are, as usual, oblivious to the consequences of the destruction of nature.
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It looks awful. Hope you’re safe.
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Yes, thank you. But desperately sad…
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Understandably.
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It is so disturbing to see the images on the news, especially the shocking one of the people leaving the island on the ferry. With the northern hemisphere on fire, how can anyone deny that humans have changed the climate?
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Amazing how some still do
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Yes.
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It is so depressing. So many fires seemingly everywhere. We can send a man to the moon, Mars or wherever but we can’t figure out how to control them. Every year, they just get worse and worse.
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Yes. And more money is spent, at least in Greece, on army equipment than on firefighting planes and helicopters. As if they didn’t know they would need them…
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No doubt the same thing here.
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Having barely survived six full months of pre-Covid bushfires here in eastern Australia I fully understand and just hope you will not have to go thru’ the death, destruction and heartbreak we did. We could not see the house on the opposite side of the road most of that time, the miles’ high flames altered the local climate and the glaciers in New Zealand 2000 km away melted and were covered with brown ash from the winds of our frightening conflagrations. Am thinking and praying and hoping for you . . . Nature is fighting back . . .
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We’ve had fires before that nearly burned our home, we really lived through a vision of hell. And for months after there was ash everywhere and a horrible smell
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It looks dreadful and terrifying for those who live close by. I hope it rains soon.
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Sadly, I doubt it.
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It’s bad enough reading about these fires in the newspapers let alone witness it first hand as you are doing. Stay safe and let’s hope this will at least serve as a wake up call to governments worldwide – although I won’t hold my breath as it’s not as if there haven’t been multiple warnings already.
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Whether it is unprecedented wildfires due to unprecedented heat waves/‘domes’, Europe’s wettest/hottest year on record, off-the-chart poor-air advisories, unprecedented stalling hurricanes, an exodus of sea life due to warming waters, the mass deforestation and incineration of the Amazonian rainforest, record-breaking floods, single-use plastics clogging life-bearing waters, a B.C. (2019) midsummer’s snowfall, the gradually dying endangered whale species or geologically invasive/destructive fracking or a myriad of other categories of large-scale toxic pollutant emissions and dumps — so far elected leadership gonad/fortitude across the globe has been seriously lacking. When it comes to mitigating Earth’s increasing average temperature, I believe that any real hope pretty much rests with our young people, via their future leadership and practical measures.
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I am relieved that you are able to write this
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Very sad and very scary.
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Praying for you all 💜
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It’s making the news here in Australia too. Stay safe.
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Reblogged this on Have We Had Help? and commented:
I feel for my Greek brothers and sisters…
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I really feel for Greece and the many bone-dry-vegetation areas planetwide uncontrollably burning. As a lifelong resident of southwestern B.C., the unprecedented heatwave here in late June, described by meteorologists as more of a ‘stalling heat dome’, left me feeling I could never again complain about the weather being too cold.
To date there clearly has been discouragingly insufficient political courage and will to properly act upon the cause-and-effect of manmade global warming and climate change.
(Neo)liberals and conservatives are overly preoccupied with vociferously criticizing one another for their politics and beliefs thus diverting attention away from the planet’s greatest polluters, where it should and needs to be sharply focused.
But there’s still some hope, mostly due to environmentally conscious and active young people, especially those who are approaching/reaching voting age. In contrast, the dinosaur electorate who have been voting into high office consecutive mass-pollution promoting or complicit/complacent governments for decades are gradually dying and making way for voters who fully support a healthy Earth thus populace.
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