As wildfires continue to burn swathes of the world, CNN analyzes that people have to face the truth – wildfires are made worse by the climate crisis. The climate crisis is caused by humans
The raging fires that engulfed the Mediterranean left dozens dead and turned entire villages into embers. Some leaders emphasized the role of arsonists in this entire catastrophe, while others accused climate change as a cover for their poor management of the situation.
The result was a confused message about who and what was to blame, American broadcaster CNN wrote in an analysis of recent days' fires around the world.
Fires have burned everything in front of them in Greece, North Macedonia, Turkey, Algeria, Italy and Cyprus in recent days. Firefighters in the United States also battled flames in 15 states. Last month, entire parts of Siberia and British Columbia also faced the biggest fires in years.
The Italian Minister for Ecological Transition, Roberto Cingolani, emphasized the role of climate change but recently hinted that 70 percent of the fires in the country were caused by the human factor - either accidentally or intentionally.
In Algeria, where 65 people – including 25 soldiers – recently died in fires, the interior minister, Kamel Beldjoud, took a similar approach.
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"We have been aware of the fires for some time now. Exploding dozens of eyes at the same time is undoubtedly a criminal act," he told Al-Nahar television.
Unlike them, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis blamed climate change for the fires, aiming to counter criticism of poor forest management and disaster preparedness. After the responses, CNN analyzed that he was forced to clarify that climate change "was the explanation but not the justification or the alibi".
While there are many factors that affect fires, it is climate change that makes them wilder and more frequent and that causes them to ignite in places that were previously not very common, says the analysis of the American broadcaster.
Hikmet Ozturk, a forest expert at the Turkish Federation for Combating Soil Erosion, a non-governmental organization, says that while 95 percent of fires in Turkey are human-caused, the spread of flames is being exacerbated by climate change.
"These are typical summer climate conditions for hot, dry regions, which means the fire risk is already high, and climate change increases that risk," he told CNN.
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The landmark report released Monday by the UN's International Panel on Climate Change noted that 38 weather conditions that fuel fires have become more likely in southern Europe over the past century. Globally, heat waves and droughts that exacerbated the fires have also become more frequent.
Thomas Smith, assistant professor of Environmental Geography at the London School of Economics, says the answer to what is to blame for the fires - climate change, arson or forest mismanagement - is not straightforward.
"Even the polarized attitudes that are emerging are not correct," he told CNN, adding that fires are complex phenomena caused by many factors, from weather influenced by climate change to vegetation, natural drivers and human activities. .
Humans, according to CNN's analysis, are responsible for starting many of the devastating fires. Arsonists may be looking to cause harm, but others have also deliberately set fires.
"The fact that climate change is making fires more ferocious does not mean that humans are not to blame. It's the opposite, and the UN report has irrevocably established that humans have instigated climate change in the first place," says the American broadcaster's analysis.
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Two elderly people burn in their home in Italy from the fires that have engulfed the Mediterranean
So while fires continue to burn across the globe, people have to face the truth – fires are made worse by the climate crisis. The climate crisis is caused by humans.
Translated by: Nita Lleshi
