Raging wildfires put Scotland on frontline of climate crisis
With extreme wildfires warnings across the country, and with fire crews battling a wildfire the size of five football pitches near Fauldhouse, Scotland’s communities are being put on the frontline of the climate crisis, say the Scottish Greens.
Scottish Green MSP Ariane Burgess said:
“We aren’t even in the height of our summer yet and we are already seeing our woodlands burning and warnings in place across much of the country.
“We should all be grateful to the firefighters who are risking their lives and putting their safety on the line to protect us and our communities. It’s not just the immediate threats they face, but also the lifelong increased health risks from exposure to smoke and toxic substances.
“We need to do everything we can to ensure that they are well supported and properly equipped for the growing threats that we face from increasing temperatures. Yet, in some parts of rural and island Scotland the fire service is facing a challenge to fill the crews, and some of their stations are in bad need of upgrade.
“Some of these fires have raged for days at a time and have done a huge amount of damage to local livelihoods and habitats. But, most importantly, they have put people in serious danger.
“Scotland is blessed with amazing and iconic landscapes that attract visitors from across the world. But they are also homes and places where people live and work, and, with our climate changing around us, they are being put at growing risk and thrust on to the frontline of the climate crisis.
“It’s not just Scotland. We have seen heat waves and wildfires across the world and, without fundamental change, the threat will only become more severe. The situation is particularly urgent for people living in remote and rural communities who are often surrounded by tinderbox conditions.
“All of this underlines the need for preventative steps to climate-proof our society and to step-up climate action if we are to ensure that the devastating scenes at Fauldhouse do not become our new normal.”