Wildfires rage worldwide amid climate crisis

The summer season of wildfires is growing more intense and destructive as the climate sizzles.

Embers fly from burning trees as the Caldor Fire grows on Mormom Emigrant Trail east of Sly Park, California, U.S., Aug. 17, 2021.

July was the planet’s hottest month in 142 years of record keeping, according to U.S. weather officials.

A car leaves Chester, California, which is under mandatory evacuation orders, as the Dixie Fire burns on the edge of town, U.S., Aug. 4, 2021.

Several U.S. states – including California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington – also saw their hottest-ever July.

A firefighter battles the Dixie Fire shortly after it jumped Highway 395 south of Janesville in Lassen County, California, U.S., Aug. 16, 2021.

In August, wildfires continued to rage across the western United States and Canada, southern Europe, northern Africa, Russia, Israel and elsewhere.

Two Ultraorthodox Jewish men walk through the Machane Yehuda market under a sky darkened by the nearby wildfires, in Jerusalem, Aug. 15, 2021.

In Greece, which is suffering its most severe heat wave in decades, a large wildfire this week threatened villages outside Athens.

A man watches the flames as a wildfire approaches Kochyli beach near the village of Limni, Greece, on the island of Evia, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of Athens, Aug. 6, 2021.

Thousands of people were evacuated from homes in a region of the French Riviera threatened by blazing fires.

Firemen use a hose to extinguish a fire near Le Luc, southern France, Aug. 17, 2021.

Recent wildfires have killed at least 75 people in Algeria and 16 in Turkey, local officials said.

A car drives through a charred forest after a fire near the village of Toudja, in the Kabyle region, east of Algiers, Algeria, Aug.13, 2021.

Drought conditions and high temperatures in northern California have given rise to the Dixie Fire, which has been ablaze for a month and has burned an area more than 1,000 square miles (2,590 square kilometers).

A home burns on Jeters Road as the Dixie Fire jumps Highway 395 south of Janesville, California, U.S., Aug. 16, 2021.

Some 1,600 people in Lake County were recently ordered to flee approaching flames, and children were rushed out of an elementary school as a nearby field burned.

Destiney Barnard holds Raymond William Goetchius while stranded at a gas station near the Dixie Fire, in Doyle, California, U.S., Aug. 17, 2021.

Last week a report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change called Earth's rapidly warming temperatures a “code red for humanity.”

Forests burn in the region of Chefchaouen in northern Morocco, Aug. 15, 2021.

The report calls climate change clearly human-caused and “an established fact,” and co-author and climate scientist Linda Mearns told The Associated Press (AP) that the disrupted global climate leaves “nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.”

A helicopter drops water over a wildfire in Köyceğiz, Muğla, Turkey, Aug. 9, 2021.

A man throws water from a swimming pool as fire approaches his house in Ippokratios Politia village, about 35 kilometers (21 miles) north of Athens, Greece, Aug. 6, 2021.

A man sprays water on burning trees during a wildfire in the Adames area, northern Athens, Greece, Aug. 3, 2021.

A firefighter watches a firefighting plane drop water on a wildfire near Tavira, southern Portugal, Aug. 17, 2021.

Turkish volunteers rest as they fight wildfires in Turgut village, near the tourist resort of Marmaris, Muğla, Turkey, Aug. 4, 2021.

A sculpture rests in front of a Grizzly Flats home destroyed by the Caldor Fire in El Dorado County, California, U.S., Aug. 17, 2021.

Volunteers pause while working at the scene of a forest fire near Kyuyorelyakh village at the Gorny Ulus area west of Yakutsk, Russia, Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021.

Smoke spreads over the sea as local residents and tourists use a ferry to evacuate Pefki village on Evia island, about 189 kilometers (118 miles) north of Athens, Greece, Aug. 8, 2021.

A firefighter examines trees scorched by the Dixie Fire in Lassen County, California, U.S., Aug. 16, 2021.

People stand in front of Kemerköy Thermal Power Plant with flames from a wildfire approaching in the background, in Milas, Muğla, Turkey, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021.

Evacuated campers play cards in a gymnasium in Bormes-les-Mimosas, southern France, Aug. 18, 2021.

Hunter McKee pats Rosy after helping to evacuate the horse to the edge of Lake Almanor as the Dixie Fire approaches Chester, California, U.S., Aug. 3, 2021.

People use a ferry to evacuate from the Pefki village on Evia island, about 189 kilometers (118 miles) north of Athens, Greece, Aug. 8, 2021.