A recent study by Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) noted that June 2025 was the third hottest ever recorded in history: The average air temperature on the surface reached 16.46 ° C, or 0.47 ° C above the average of June between 1991-2020.
All this happens while Italy continues to burn: a large in size he broke out in a campsite a Castiglione della Pescaia (Gr) by forcing the firefighters to evacuate the 600 guest tourists of the structure. In the meantime, the airspace above theOlbia airport It was momentarily closed due to a fire burst along the state road. The flames then hit a pine forest in Metaponto (MT) and different areas of Otranto (Le), with 150 hectares of Mediterranean scrubbed: in both cases, the strong wind that made the intervention of the rescuers more difficult.
But, therefore, it is the global warming To cause all these fires? Not exactly. Global warming cannot be considered the direct cause of the violent fires bursted in recent weeks even if the high temperaturestogether with rains Always less frequent (which make the earth more arid), are two environmental conditions that favor the birth and spread of fires, especially in Boschive areas.
Global warming, hot and fires: Copernicus data
The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) confirmed that June 2025 was the hottest third June globally, after the two records of 2023 and 2024. TheEuropein particular, recorded one temperature media 20.49 ° C2.81 ° C above the average recorded in June 1991-2020. But, therefore, is global warming the direct cause of fires burst in recent weeks? Not exactly.
Certainly, the increasingly high average temperatures, join the rains Always less frequent (which make the earth more arid), they are two environmental conditions that favor the birth and spread of fires, especially in the wooded areas.
Specifically, in forest areas such as the Castiglione della Pescaia campsite or the Pineta di Metaponto, if It hasn’t rained for weeks The vegetation is more exposed to the rays of the Sunwith the warmth it will do evaporate most of the water present in plants making them a very effective fuel to propagate the flames.
In other words, high temperatures make the earth and forest areas more arid: These periods of strong drought make the earth more arid and make fires, even if they are malicious, manage to propagate quickly for hundreds of hectares.
Not surprisingly, always according to the data reported by C3S, June 2025 was drier Compared to the average both in theWestern and southern Europewhich in the United Kingdom and in some regions of Southern Scandinavia.
The Mediterranean temperature has also reached a new record: in June 2025, in the western Mediterranean, the higher temperature of the sea surface (SST) daily for the entire region in June (27 ° C), corresponding to the highest SST daily anomaly ever revealed in any month (3,7 ° C above average).
The current situation of fires: the hectares burned in Europe
At the moment, however, the fire situation in Italy has returned under control: to tame the flames, however, the firefighters had to use the army tankers and five Canadair. Olbia’s airspace has been reopened and the airport is back fully operationalafter several flights have been diverted to Cagliari, Alghero and Rome. Several teams of the Forestry Corps and Fire Brigade intervened on the site, together with several Helicopters of the regional fleet And a Canadair.
This year, however, the fire season is revealed particularly violent Throughout Europe: about July 8 are already burned 18,789 hectares throughout the European Union, more than double Compared to the average of the period 2006-2024 which stops at 9,345 hectares.
In addition to being particularly violentthese fires are hitting Europe in advance Compared to the past years: how it is also possible to see from the graphic designer, generally the season of summer bonfires reaches its peak between the end of June and the first weeks of September. In 2025, however, in the European Union the fires arrived aggressively before expectedwith the curve of the burnt hectares that has already surrendered at the end of May.
In recent weeks, in fact, in addition to the fires that broke out in Italy, from Rome to Sardinia, France was also affected by the flames (which reached the center of Marseille), while in the Greek islands of Crete And Chios Several bonfires have flared that caused the loss of over 8,000 hectares.
