HOSTENS, France: Wildfires resounded across parts of France, Spain and Portugal on Thursday as heatwaves baked Europe, and the head of the European Space Agency urged immediate action to fight climate change.
More than 1,000 firefighters backed by water-bombing planes fought a monster blaze that has forced thousands of people from their homes and destroyed thousands of hectares of forest in France's southwestern Gironde region.
President Emmanuel Macron said several European Union nations were deploying reinforcements to fight back the blaze with a dangerous cocktail of blistering temperatures, tinder-box conditions and wind fanning the flames.
Gregory Allione, from the French firefighters body FNSPF, said it was an ogre, a monster.
In recent weeks, there have been increased concerns about climate change and the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather across the globe.
Ahead of the European Space Agency, Josef Aschbacher, said rising land temperatures and shrinking rivers as measured from space left no doubt about the toll on agriculture and other industries from climate change.
In recent weeks, the Copernicus Sentinel 3 satellite series of the Copernicus Sentinel 3 satellite series has measured extreme land surface temperatures of more than 45 degrees Celsius in Britain, 50 degrees Celsius in France and 60 degrees Celsius in Spain.
It's pretty bad. Aschbacher told Reuters we have seen extremes that have never been seen before.