Hundreds of Greek firefighters tackle raging wildfire threatening Athens
PBS NewsHourAUG 2024
Thousands Evacuated as Greek Wildfire Spreads
Above: Smoke billows behind the Parthenon ancient temple on the top of the Acropolis hill as a wildfire rages on the outskirts of Athens on Aug. 11, 2024 in Athens. Image copyright: Milos Bicanski/Contributor/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Spin
Narrative A
Greece is facing a biblical catastrophe due to its failure to curb human-induced fossil fuel emissions, which worsen the length, frequency, and intensity of heat waves year after year. With over 47K heat-related deaths in Europe last year — with Greece leading at 393 per million — the turbulence that climate change can bring is undeniable. Athens can no longer be complacent and allow these catastrophic wildfires to become a regular occurrence.
Narrative B
Wildfires are often people-made disasters. While wildfires are a natural part of many ecosystems and are common during the summertime in Greece, the most devastating wildfires have been caused by negligence, arson, poor forest management practices, a lack of pre-emptive operations, and the government's piecemeal interventions that don't address the root causes of the country's increased fire risk over the past decade.
Narrative C
While a dispersed archipelago geography makes the Mediterranean country more vulnerable to wildfires, the Greek authorities aren't underestimating the impacts of climate change and have established a credible plan for climate adaptation. Additionally, the government has made causing a forest fire a criminal offense and created the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection to improve forest fire abatement and take preventive measures to tackle intensive wildfires.