"Explainer: What’s Behind Europe’s Spate Of Deadly Wildfires?"

"LISBON, Portugal — Major wildfires in Europe are starting earlier in the year, becoming more frequent, doing more damage and getting harder to stop.

And, scientists say, they’re probably going to get worse as climate change intensifies unless countermeasures are taken.

A mass migration of Europeans from the countryside to cities in recent decades has left neglected woodland at the mercy of the droughts and heat waves that are increasingly common amid global warming. One tiny spark can unleash an inferno.

Fighting forest fires in Europe has never been so hard."

Barry Hatton reports for the Associated Press July 22, 2022.