Wildfires burning in the Scottish Highlands in early July stretched firefighters thin. The resources needed to contain the blazes mean fewer firefighters are available to help with other emergencies, like the major heat wave that hit Europe early in the month.

What's happening?

An organization that advocates for and upholds the value of traditional land stewardship and wildlife practices across Scotland is urging the country's government to see firsthand the impacts that numerous wildfires are having on firefighters who are being pulled in too many directions. The Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA) wants officials to attend ongoing fires because "lessons must be learned before it is too late." 

"This is becoming a danger to human life because firefighters are becoming so stretched dealing with wildfires that they don't have the resources to attend other fires," according to the SGA. 

"The Fire Service have been brilliant, working closely with gamekeepers and land managers, allowing them to back-burn to prevent flare-ups," added the SGA. "The team working has been great and the Police have really helped. But the Fire Service can't be everywhere."

Why are wildfires in Scotland important?

The fires are coinciding with a major heat wave that struck Europe at the start of the second month of meteorological summer. The record-breaking early July heat wave killed at least 1,500 people across the continent. A surge of scorching heat was forecast to arrive for the second weekend of July in Scotland. The SGA has cautioned that the fires are straining firefighting resources and hindering responses to other emergencies, like the historic heat wave.

It isn't just happening in Scotland. Compound events, defined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as "combinations of multiple drivers and hazards that contribute to societal or environmental risks," were happening in both Europe and the United States this summer. Compound events in California are putting pressure on the state's emergency services.

California's largest wildfire of the year so far, the Madre Fire, located about 50 miles north of Santa Barbara, charred more than 80,000 acres in early July. As the fire burned, much of southern California was under an extreme heat warning as temperatures were expected to climb as high as 118 degrees Fahrenheit.

"Climate change is playing a role in the increase of fire weather in the West, where more days of dry, warm, windy weather are amplifying the risks of wildfires spreading rapidly," warned Kaitlyn Trudeau, a senior research associate for climate science at Climate Central. "As our climate warms, the chances of intense, fast-growing fires like the ones Californians are facing today will keep rising." 

Trudeau was referring to January wildfires in California that took at least 30 lives and prompted the evacuation of over 180,000 people.

What's being done about the overheating planet's effect on extreme weather events?

Heat-trapping gases in our atmosphere are acting like steroids for weather, supercharging extreme weather events like wildfires and heat waves. Cooling off our planet to mitigate the adverse impacts our warming world is having on the weather means a large-scale transition to renewable energy sources. 

Do you worry about air pollution in your town? All the time 💯 Often 😢 Only sometimes 😟 Never 😎 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

A project backed by Google that hopes to develop a game-changing energy prototype could transform how we generate power. There was also good news for the renewable energy sector in July as researchers in Saudi Arabia made a major breakthrough in solar technology.

Learning about technological advancements like these and critical climate issues like those impacting Europe and the United States, and sharing that information with family and friends, can be an important step to take for climate action. Supporting climate causes as well as politicians who want to fight for the future of our planet is another important step.

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