Aerial footage reveals devastation from wildfires in Rhodes, Greece

The areas affected by the forest fires that devastate the island of rhodesat Greece, were captured by a new aerial record this Sunday (23). The image, taken by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites, of European Space Agencyreveals a significant portion of the territory in red.

Region monitoring

O CopernicusEarth Observation Program of the European Union, states that the photograph demonstrates the “burn scar from the fire of Rhodes and the active fires”.

_{Image of Rhodes, Greece, captured by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites (Photo: Reproduction/European Union/Copernicus Sentinel-2/Handout via REUTERS/g1)}

Organization scientists also report that the Copernicus EMS Rapid Mapping Module, responsible for providing detailed and on-demand information for emergency situations, has been activated to monitor the affected area.

The research director of the Greek Meteorological Observatory, Kostas Lagouvardos, warned the local population about the upcoming climatic prospects. “According to our data, we are likely to experience a heat wave that will last for 16 to 17 days, which has never happened before in our country.”, he declared in an interview with the television channel ERT Worldin this weekend.

Causes and developments

_{Fire on the island of Rhodes, Greece (Photo: Reproduction/Eurokinissi/AFP/O Globo)}

Despite being common in Greece, forest fires have spread more strongly amid climate change, which brings extreme heat waves to southern Europe and several other regions of the world. Last week, some parts of the country in question exceeded 40 degrees Celsius.

In Rhodes, more than 19,000 people have already been moved from homes and tourist resorts to safer locations. According to Ministry of Climate Change and Civil Protection of Greecethis was “the largest evacuation because of a forest fire in the country”.

Yesterday (23), the islands of corfu It is evia, other popular tourist spots, also issued evacuation orders in the face of intensifying blazes. Greek police spokeswoman Konstantia Dimoglidoureported to the news agency AFP that more than 30,000 people have left the country so far.

Featured photo: Satellite image exposes dimensions of forest fires in Rhodes, Greece. Playback/European Union/Copernicus Sentinel-2/Handout via REUTERS/g1.