ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A newly released study highlights how rising global temperatures and a decline in rainfall intensified the devastating wildfires that swept through Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus this past summer.

According to research by World Weather Attribution, the wildfires — which led to 20 deaths, forced 80,000 people to leave their homes, and charred over 1 million hectares (approximately 2.47 million acres) — were approximately 22% more severe in 2025, marking it as the most severe wildfire season ever recorded in Europe.

During June and July, hundreds of blazes broke out across the region, driven by extreme temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), prolonged dry spells, and powerful winds.

The study, conducted by the WWA, a team of climate experts analyzing links between extreme weather and global warming, described its conclusions as “alarming.”

“Our research indicates a very strong connection between climate change and increasingly hot and arid environments,” said Theodore Keeping, a researcher at the Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London.

“We’re already witnessing new extremes in wildfire behavior with just 1.3 degrees Celsius of warming. As global temperatures potentially rise to 3 degrees this century, unless fossil fuel use is drastically reduced, the situation could worsen significantly,” Keeping warned.

Residents attempt to control a fire in the village of Omodos, Cyprus, located on the southern slopes of the Troodos Mountains, on July 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File)

The researchers also noted a 14% decrease in winter rainfall since the pre-industrial era — a time when the mass use of fossil fuels began — which has contributed to drier vegetation and elevated fire risks.

The study found that periods of hot, dry conditions that increase fire danger have become 13 times more frequent due to climate change. It also pointed to intensifying high-pressure systems that enhance the strength of the Etesian winds, which played a significant role in spreading the fires.

Gavriil Xanthopoulos, a senior scientist at the Hellenic Agricultural Organization’s Institute of Mediterranean Forest Ecosystems, noted that firefighters traditionally waited for these winds to subside before attacking the fires. Now, he said, that strategy is less reliable.

“It’s becoming clear that this wind pattern behaves differently now,” Xanthopoulos said, adding that further investigation is necessary to understand why these winds are increasing in frequency and force.

Firefighters and local residents work to contain advancing flames near a home in Patras, in western Greece, on August 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis, File)

Flavio Lehner, a climate expert at Cornell University who was not part of the WWA team, remarked that the report’s findings align with other existing scientific studies and his own insights on how climate change alters weather patterns to favor wildfires.

“Climate change is essentially stacking the deck toward more severe and frequent fire seasons in the Mediterranean,” Lehner said.

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