Back in the 1980s, as an increase in forest fires claimed more than 5,000 hectares (12,355 acres) a year, few people spoke of climate change even though summer temperatures were marking new records and heatwaves had become a cause for concern.
Two years ago, when wildfires destroyed the northern half of the island of Evia, northeast of Athens, geophysicist Christos Zerefos told me the fire followed Greece’s longest heatwave.
