Energy News  
FIRE STORM
Algeria mourns 69 dead as Mediterranean wildfires spread
By Yacine Benrabia with Abdelhafid Daamache in Algiers
Tizi Ouzou, Algeria (AFP) Aug 11, 2021

The death toll climbed to at least 69 as firefighters, soldiers and civilian volunteers battled blazes in forests across northern Algeria on Wednesday, in the latest wildfires to sweep the Mediterranean.

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune declared three days of national mourning starting from Thursday, and authorities say they suspect widespread arson after so many fires erupted in such a short space of time.

In an update, state-run news agency APS said the rash of more than 50 fires that broke out Tuesday had claimed four more lives, in addition to state television's toll of 65 dead, including 28 soldiers deployed to help overstretched emergency services.

Several arrests have been announced, but the identities or suspected motives of those detained have not been disclosed.

Images of trapped villagers, terrified livestock and forested hillsides reduced to blackened stumps were shared on social media, many of them accompanied by pleas for help.

AFP journalists saw villagers desperately trying to put out the spreading fires with makeshift brooms in an effort to save their homes.

- 'Alarming' -

High winds fuelled the rapid spread of the flames in tinder-dry conditions created by a heatwave across North Africa and the wider Mediterranean, fire official Youcef Ould Mohamed told APS.

Scores of separate wildfires remained active Wednesday, spread across 17 provinces, emergency services spokesman Nassim Barnaoui told reporters.

Most of the fires and 16 of the deaths were recorded in Tizi Ouzou district, in the mainly Berber region of Kabylie, east of the capital Algiers.

"I left all my stock in my village and fled to Tizi Ouzou with my wife and three children," said Abdelhamid Boudraren, a shopkeeper from the village of Beni Yeni.

The situation was "alarming", Letreche Hakim, the head of civil protection in Bejaia, the second biggest city in Kabylie, told APS.

There have been mounting calls for aid convoys to be sent to the worst-hit districts with food and medicine from the capital.

On Wednesday, an AFP correspondent saw several lorries headed to Tizi Ouzou with aid donated by the public.

French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on Twitter that France would send two Canadair firefighting planes and a command aircraft to the Kabylie region on Thursday to help.

Neighbouring Morocco, with whom Algeria has long had strained ties over the Western Sahara, also expressed a readiness to help.

Rabat offered two Canadair planes "if the Algerian authorities agree", a Moroccan foreign ministry statement said.

Algeria is also chartering two firefighting planes from the EU, aircraft recently being used to stop fires in Greece.

Meteorologists expect the heatwave across North Africa to continue until the end of the week, with temperatures in Algeria reaching 46 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit).

- Fires in Tunisia -

In Algeria's neighbour Tunisia, the temperature in the capital Tunis hit an all-time record of 49 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday.

The Tunisian emergency services reported 15 fires across the north and northwest, but no casualties.

On the northern shores of the Mediterranean, Turkey reported eight deaths and Greece three from wildfires that have raged for the past two weeks.

Each summer, Algeria endures seasonal wildfires, but rarely anything approaching this year's disaster.

In 2020, nearly 440 square kilometres (170 square miles) of forest were destroyed by fire.

On Monday, the UN released a major report showing how the threat from global warming is even more acute than previously thought.

It highlighted how scientists are quantifying the extent to which human-induced warming increases the intensity and/or likelihood of a specific extreme weather event, such as a heatwave or a wildfire.

Climate change amplifies droughts, creating ideal conditions for wildfires to spread out of control and inflict unprecedented material and environmental damage.

burs-ad/hj/srm/pjm

FACEBOOK

Twitter


Related Links
Forest and Wild Fires - News, Science and Technology


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


FIRE STORM
Siberia feels the brunt of climate change as wildfires rage
Yakutsk, Russia (AFP) Aug 11, 2021
Alexander Fyodorov peered out his office window towards the vast forests where wildfires had been raging for weeks around the Siberian city of Yakutsk. It was a rare day for this summer - for once the sky in the world's coldest city was not shrouded in a sepia orange toxic smog, produced by the third straight year of increasingly massive blazes. In Yakutia, known as Sakha in its Turkic language, many believe that nature is a living spirit that will maintain harmony with humanity. But Fyodo ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

FIRE STORM
Areas of Iraqi province lose power after attack on pylons

US says cannot delay 'ambitious' action to protect climate

Australia rejects climate targets despite damning UN report

China signals steady course after UN climate warning

FIRE STORM
Scientists detect characteristics of the birth of a major challenge to harvesting fusion energy on Earth

Department of Energy to provide $100 million for high energy physics research

Europe to boost battery production as electric shift accelerates

Department of Energy announces $9.35 million for research on high energy density plasmas

FIRE STORM
For golden eagles, habitat loss is main threat from wind farms

Wind turbines can be clustered while avoiding turbulent wakes of their neighbors

Shell, France's EDF to build US offshore windfarm

Wind and the sun power Greek islands' green energy switch

FIRE STORM
Solar power and desalination to be efficiently linked for first time in new project

Surrey researchers working to find suitable solvents for perovskite inks

Print perovskite solar cells

Japan ups 2030 renewables goal in draft energy policy

FIRE STORM
Framatome acquires nuclear power systems division of RCM Technologies Canada Corp

Framatome's steam generator replacement expertise supports long-term operations in Canada

China nuclear reactor shut down for maintenance after damage

GE Hitachi awarded long-term outage services contract by Leibstadt Nuclear Power Plant

FIRE STORM
Stinkweed could make a cleaner bio-jet fuel, study finds

Drink and drive: whisky waste powers Scottish trucks

Catalyzing the conversion of biomass to biofuel

Airbus joins SAF+ Consortium to for sustainable aviation fuels

FIRE STORM
World has decade to move away from fossil fuels: France

New mechanistic model uncovers earthquake processes at Colorado oil field

Saudi Aramco Q2 profits bounce back to pre-pandemic levels

US extends Iraq's sanction waiver for four months

FIRE STORM
Is China delivering on its climate promises?

UN climate report comprehensive, but regional gaps persist

Acceleration of global warming 'code red' for humanity

Keeping Earth cool: Is the 1.5C target 'mission impossible'?









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.