Above image: Flames spread across a mountain near Limni on the island of Evia, about 100 miles north of Athens, on Aug. 3. Greece is grappling with its worst heat wave in decades, which is straining the national power supply and fueling fires.
Greece and Turkey are being engulfed by wildfires that are devastating illustrations of the warnings raised by a harrowing climate change report released Monday by the United Nations.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report said that Earth is getting so hot that in 10 years temperatures will probably blow past a level of warming that world leaders have sought to prevent, according to The Associated Press.
As a result, the United Nations called the report a “code red for humanity.”
The real world implications were on display on the Greek island of Evia, where temperatures have soared to 113 degrees Fahrenheit in the past week.
In addition, a massive fire has been destroying pristine pine forests, homes and businesses for a week, according to The Associated Press.
There was also massive devastation in Turkey, where wildfires have turned green forests into ashen, barren hills.
“There is nothing left here, no trees left. Animals burned. Some people’s homes and roofs burned,” beekeeper Ali Kayasaid told AP. “I have no idea what we’ll do. Our heads are all messed up, our mental outlook destroyed. We can’t think clearly here in Osmaniye.”
You can see just the devastation in the photographs below.
Local residents fight the wildfire in the village of Gouves on Evia (Euboea) island, the second-largest Greek island, on Sunday. Hundreds of Greek firefighters fought desperately to control the Evia fire, which has charred vast areas of pine forest, destroyed homes and forced tourists and residents to flee.
A firefighter tries to put out a blaze Friday in Afidnes, about 20 miles from Athens. Greek authorities said three people had been arrested for suspected arson as wildfires continue to scorch thousands of acres of forest across the country.
Helicopters are filled with water off the beach of the village of Pefki as they assist in firefighting efforts on the Greek island of Evia on Tuesday.
A firefighter tries to put out a wildfire in the north of Athens on Aug. 5. Firefighting forces are battling relentlessly to contain the fires across Greece. Wildfires north of Athens leapt back to life as Greece also faced flare-ups on the island of Evia, in Ancient Olympia in the northwestern Peloponnese and in other parts of the country.
People run from the fire-devastated Sirtkoy village, near Manavgat, Antalya, Turkey, on Aug. 1. More than 100 wildfires have been brought under control in Turkey, according to officials. The forestry minister tweeted that five fires are continuing in the tourist destinations of Antalya and Mugla.
A shower of sparks lights the night on Aug. 7 as wildfires rage in the north of Athens.
People embark on a ferry during an evacuation from Kochyli beach as wildfires approach Limni on the Greek island of Evia on Aug. 6. A protracted heat wave left forests tinder-dry and flames threatened populated areas and electricity installations.
People board a ferry to evacuate from Pefki village on Evia island, north of Athens, on Aug. 8. Pillars of billowing smoke and ash blocked out the sun above Greece’s second-largest island.
A firefighter and residents rush to a burning house in an attempt to extinguish flames from forest fires approaching the village of Pefki on Evia island, Greece’s second-largest island, on Aug. 8. Greece and Turkey have been battling devastating fires during a heat wave experts have linked to climate change.
A firefighter sprays water as the forest fire spreads near houses in Thrakomakedones, near Mount Parnitha, north of Athens on Aug. 7. Hundreds of firefighters battled a blaze on the outskirts of Athens as several fires raged in Greece.
An aircraft drops water during a wildfire in Kryoneri area, northern Athens, Greece on Aug. 5. Wildfires rekindled outside Athens and forced more evacuations around southern Greece as weather conditions worsened and firefighters engaged in a round-the-clock battle to stop the flames just outside the birthplace of the ancient Olympics.
Residents evacuate the area with their animals as a wildfire rages in the suburb of Thrakomakedones, north of Athens, on Aug. 7.
Chairs and tables are burned on Aug. 4 inside a tavern in Varybombi, a suburb north of Athens, as fires broke out at the foot of Mount Parnes.
Firefighters and volunteers try to put out a fire in Afidnes, about 20 miles from Athens, on Friday. Greek authorities said arson was suspected in the fire and that three people had been arrested.
Firefighters battle the forest fire at the area of Varybobi, a northeastern suburb of Athens, on Aug. 3. The wildfire broke out in a forest in the Varybobi area in the northeast of Greece’s Attica region, spreading fast due to dry conditions, the fire department said.
A man watches flames approach Kochyli beach near Limni village on the Greek island of Evia on Friday. Wildfires raged uncontrolled through Greece and Turkey on Friday, forcing thousands to flee by land and sea, and killing a volunteer firefighter on the fringes of Athens in a huge forest blaze that threatened the capital’s most important national park.
A helicopter aids in a wildfire battle in Koycegiz, Mugla, Turkey, on Monday. Wildfires in Turkey, described as Turkey’s worst in living memory, started on July 28 amid a ferocious heat wave and raged for days across more than half of Turkey’s provinces. At least eight people and countless animals have been killed, and villages and resorts had to be evacuated Some people had to flee to beaches to be rescued by sea.
Flames rise from a fire spreading in the Aegean coast city of Oren, near Milas, in the holiday region of Mugla, on Aug. 3 as Turkey struggles against its deadliest wildfires in decades. The nation of 84 million has watched in horror as the most destructive wildfires in generations erase pristine forests and rich farmland across swaths of Turkey’s Mediterranean and Aegean coasts. Tourists have been forced to escape on boats for safety, and dozens of villages have been evacuated as wild winds and soaring heat fan the flames.
Wildfire approaches the seaside village of Limni, on the Greek island of Evia, on Friday.
