The fires that are devouring thousands of hectares across Spain this torrid summer are not an isolated phenomenon. Nor are the heatwaves that are lashing us. It is possible that there are still those who believe that the climate crisis is an invention of tiresome environmentalists. Everything is much simpler: the warming of our climate modifies traditional weather patterns and this facilitates the spread of forest fires.
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Reality overwhelms us. Evidently, it is not a problem unique to our country. France is experiencing a similar situation with 140,000 evacuees in the Bordeaux area. Governments are overwhelmed trying to prevent the fire from growing even larger, leading to claims that it is “inextinguishable,” as was stated yesterday in the Community of Madrid.
We are facing a situation of general alarm and a phenomenon of mega-fires that we have never experienced in Europe. It is time to rethink whether the resources currently available to the Administration are sufficient to prevent the spread of the flames, beyond the blame that politicians of one colour or another may cast, as happened yesterday in Madrid. It is also time to listen to experts, from scientists to firefighters, so that prevention policies are useful.
The time has come for a general rethinking in relation to rising temperatures, as suggested yesterday by the conseller de Empresa i Treball de la Generalitat, Miquel Sàmper, who was open to making working hours more flexible and also pointed to the option of working more during night hours.
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And we must not be afraid to change historical customs. Since 1903, the Tour has been held in July, so that cyclists can reach the great peaks of the Alps and the Pyrenees without the risk of encountering snow. Today, it no longer makes sense to see these athletes making the effort to pedal in temperatures close to 40 degrees and on asphalt that radiates even more heat towards their bodies. It is inhumane.
We will have to adapt to this new paradigm. The sooner it is done, the fewer catastrophic situations will occur and have to be regretted.
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