Greece is burning... is climate change to blame?
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 27 July 2023
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
For the past week, islands in Greece have experienced catastrophic wildfires. Over twenty thousand people have been evacuated - the largest rescue operation in the country's history. It comes amid a punishing heat wave, where temperatures are regularly soaring well over 40 degrees. So is this climate change in action? A new report has some clues.
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Guests:
- Daphne Tolis, freelance journalist in Greece.
- Adam Vaughan, Environment Editor, The Times.
Host: Manveen Rana.
Clips: Times Radio, The Guardian, Daphne Tolis/UGC, Reuters, BBC.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | By the time we had nightfall there was a big orange glow over the mountain. |
| 0:16.8 | We arrived on Saturday evening blissfully on a warfare that we were going to be evacuated |
| 0:24.4 | as soon as we stepped outside of the airport. |
| 0:29.0 | It almost feels like it's not real, being an imminent danger of being burnt to death. |
| 0:35.0 | It didn't really feel real. |
| 0:42.0 | Over the past week wildfires have swept across parts of Greece on both the mainland and several Greek islands. |
| 0:50.0 | It's resulted in the biggest rescue effort in the country's history |
| 0:54.0 | with over 20,000 people evacuated. |
| 0:57.0 | Many of them British tourists. |
| 1:07.0 | One woman had to walk for 11 kilometers and you know 40 degrees Celsius in order to be able to reach safety. |
| 1:14.0 | Others spent the night sleeping on the airport floor. |
| 1:19.0 | Everyone stepped on the floor last night. |
| 1:21.0 | Myself, I thought about 13 minutes late. |
| 1:24.0 | We arrived about 17 hours at the airport and there's about 200-300 people waiting for one flight. |
| 1:43.0 | Whenever we see extreme weather events like the deadly heat wave and the wildfires in Greece, |
| 1:49.0 | there's always one question that hangs in the air. |
| 1:53.0 | Is this a sign of global warming? |
| 1:56.0 | Is there a direct line between the tragedy in Greece and the climate crisis? |
| 2:01.0 | It's not always an easy question to answer, but after new research was published this week, |
| 2:07.0 | it's just become a lot easier. |
| 2:13.0 | You're listening to stories of our times from the times and the Sunday times. |
| 2:17.0 | I'm Manvin Rana. |
... |
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