"All is well, beautiful marquise"

A few days ago, speaking in Parliament, Kyriakos Mitsotakis wanted to convince the people of Greece that everything is to blame climate change and the phenomenon of “night self-ignition”, which is allegedly responsible for 150,000 hectares of scorched earth. But scientists are of a different opinion.

Commenting on the tvxs channel Prime Minister’s speech yesterdayin which he attempted to cast doubt on the scientific evidence and blame the weather, Kostas Lagovardos, director of research at the Athens National Observatory, stated that “these fires are nothing ‘out of the ordinary’ compared to other examples, there is nothing strange about them with terms of conditions.”

According to Mr. Lagovardos, “the area burned in relation to the average for the last 15 years declared by the European Forest Fire Service in other countries was much less than in Greece, which is huge.”

When the relevant department published the announcement, the figure was 195%. Even without the Evros fire, we would have twice as much scorched earth as the EU average.

The scientific point of view, contrary to the statements of the Prime Minister that “there was no fire on Evros”, was also expressed by Theodoris Giannaros. “Spontaneous combustion is created by the fire itself, which releases a huge amount of heat. It heats the air and makes it rise very quickly. And when the atmosphere is unstable, that is, it favors these vertical movements, the rising air creates these clouds. This is an extreme phenomenon,” he explained.

140 thousand hectares of ash

The remote sensing laboratory of the Hellas Research and Technology Foundation in its report reflects the extent of the destruction caused by fires to date: almost 150 thousand hectares of burned land – this is the sad result of this summer, and in just a month and a half, 2.5% of the country’s vegetation has been destroyed.

Former Deputy Interior Minister S. Petsas sees the “politicization” of the Athens National Observatory, which, according to him, he does not like at all. At the same time, S. Petsas tried to “cancel” them with his statements, casting doubt on them, but the evidence is inexorable, and the entire government, it seems, simply did not have time to react, as a result of which the once forest “lungs” of the country are now in ashes.

Dadias Forest Burning Day 15

At 4:25 pm on Saturday, September 2, a message was sent to the residents of Lefkimmi on 112 asking them to be on the lookout for a forest fire in their area, and according to the deputy mayor of Soufli, the evacuation of residents has already begun.

Αντιδήμαρχος Σουφλίου (16:40) : "Εκκενώνεται η Λευκίμμη τώρα!"
Πηγή : https://t.co/b6AVvjjo0n

— Avlonitis (@avlonitis_) September 2, 2023

Συμβαίνει τώρα (16:50) Αυτό είναι το μεγάλο μέτωπο της φωτιάς που μαίνεται αυτήν την ώρα κοντά στον οικισμό του Προβατώνα.

Σύμφωνα με μαρτυρίες οι φλόγες πλησιάζουν τις κεραίες της ΕΡΤ.

Αναλυτικά για την σημερινή ημέρα εδώ: https://t.co/UjrxS65tfZ pic.twitter.com/5E6hXJhc3b

— e-evros.gr (@eevrosgr) September 2, 2023

(17:00) Η εικόνα του μετώπου της φωτιάς που μαίνεται στην Λευκίμμη αυτήν την ώρα όπως φαίνεται από την Εθνική Οδό.
Σημειώνεται ότι σήμερα στον Έβρο, για την κατάσβεση των τελευταίων ενεργών μετώπων, επιχειρούν 582 πυροσβέστες με 122 οχήματα.
Συνεχής ροή: https://t.co/UjrxS65tfZ pic.twitter.com/hndR1ZBeC2

— e-evros.gr (@eevrosgr) September 2, 2023

Firefighting forces are working on scattered active pockets near the areas of Soufli, Karyofilia, Dadia and Giannouli. Since Saturday morning, air assets have been continuously discharging water, and very large forces have been working from the ground – more than 500 firefighters.

Currently, firefighting forces are forced to fight three fronts, the most important of which is the one that continues to burn north of the former Dadia National Park. According to ERT, another front continues to burn west of Soufli, while another refuses to subside in the Kotronia area.

There are no active fronts in the direction of the Jannuli and Sidiro regions, and six firefighting aircraft have been operating in the region west of Soufli since the morning. There is heavy smoke in this area, the wind drives it towards settlements. The river north of Dadia could be a fire dam, but there is no water in it.

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