Wildfires: What's happening in Greece, California and Turkey?
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Firefighters in Greece and California in the US are continuing to battle wildfires that have spread over the weekend.
In Greece, more than 2,000 people have been evacuated and moved to safer places, as several fires continue to burn in the country.
There are 5,000 firefighters across California trying to bring 11 fires currently burning under control.
Both the fires in Greece and California are due to extreme temperatures.
What's happening in Greece?
At the moment Greece is experiencing its highest temperatures in 30 years.
It's around 45 degrees!
Firefighters and other emergency services have been doing everything they can to get people to safety.
More than 2,000 people have been moved from the Greek island of Evia, where the fires are particularly bad, via ferry to a safer place.
One fire in Athens, Greece's capital city, is reported to have now subsided.
However, the people of Greece are asking for more help.
The Mayor of Istiaia in Evia has told local news stations: "It's already too late, the area has been destroyed."
He has asked for more help from helicopters and planes with water bombing to get some of the fire under control.
Several countries, including France, the UK and Germany, have said they will help.
Is the situation any better in California?
The second largest fire in northern California history, known as the Dixie Fire, has been burning since 13 July.
Firefighters say 21% of the blaze is under control.
Temperatures in California, like Greece, are at an all-time high and even higher temperatures are predicted in the next few days.
Authorities have warned that the lack of moisture in the air could mean the fires will spread even further.
As the fires continue to spread, more people have had to be evacuated.
In one area, called Pumas County, 4 out of 10 people have been told to leave their homes to get away from the blaze.
"We're seeing fire activity that even veteran firefighters haven't seen in their career," Edwin Zuniga, a spokesman for Cal Fire said. "So we're just in really uncharted territory."
More than two million acres of land across the country has been burnt by this year's fires.
On Saturday, California's Governor Gavin Newsom said: "We need to acknowledge just straight up these are climate-induced wildfires."
What about the rest of Europe?
It's not just Greece and California battling wildfires - Turkey is too.
Firefighters have contained 217 wildfires but six continue to burn.
They are also being labelled the worst fires Turkey has ever seen.
Scientists say climate change is a factor in extreme weather events, such as these.
- Published19 May 2020
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