. Earth Science News .
FIRE STORM
Portugal fires rage on, protected forests destroyed

A villager fights with fire in the village of Carralcova, near Arcos de Valdevez, on August 15, 2010. Photo courtesy AFP.

Forest fires ravage northwest Spain
Boiro, Spain (AFP) Aug 16, 2010 - Spanish firefighters Monday battled forest fires in the northwestern Galicia region which have already caused the death of two firemen and destroyed some 750 hectares, local authorities said. They said two blazes, in the regions of Muxia and Camarins, were under control Monday, while others in Baiona, Vimianzo and Santa Comba had been extinguished. The authorities said these fires had destroyed some 300 hectares.

Another blaze which broke out near the city of La Coruna during the night of Saturday to Sunday was still active, having so far destroyed some 450 hectares. More than 200 soldiers from outside Galicia and 15 water-dropping aircraft have arrived to help the firefighters already in place. On Friday, two firefighters died in a forest fire in Galicia that authorities suspect was deliberately set. Galicia borders Portugal which is also battling summer wildfires.
by Staff Writers
Lisbon (AFP) Aug 16, 2010
Fire raged through Portugal's Peneda-Geres national park for the sixth consecutive day, destroying large swathes of forest land, firefighters said on Monday.

Some 175 firefighters, equipped with waterbombing helicopters battled to contain the blaze, still active on several fronts, the civil protection services said on its website.

The flames have already destroyed 6,000 hectares (14,800 acres) in this risk-prone and inaccessible area to the west of the park, Fire Commander Carlos Ferreira was quoted as saying by the Lusa news agency.

The Peneda-Geres national park in northern Portugal contains more than 70,000 hectares of bushland, which sprawl across the border shared with Spain's Galicia region.

A smaller fire in the east of the park was also raging on Monday afternoon.

Authorities of the Peneda-Geres national park have not provided official figures from the fires, which have multiplied since the end of July, but said that several protected forests have been destroyed.

More than 15,000 fire starts have been registered since January and more than half of these since July 23, according to civil protection services.

More than 75,000 hectares of forestland across Portugal have been destroyed this year, with some 58,000 hectares burnt since the beginning of the month, according to satellite estimations from the European system of information on forest fires.

Several other protected zones were also destroyed by fires. In central Portugal last week, several thousands of hectares were burnt to the ground in the Serra da Estrela natural park, which also includes the European Network of Biogenetic Reserves.

On the island of Madeira, where fires have eaten through 3,100 hectares of bushland, the ecological park in Funchal, situated atop the city, has been almost entirely destroyed.

Miguel Albuquerque, mayor of Funchal, said on Monday that the park of 1,000 hectares would be replanted, but in autumn, due to the growing risk of flooding. The city was also devastated by floods last February which left 51 dead or missing across the island.



Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
Forest and Wild Fires - News, Science and Technology



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


FIRE STORM
Russia beats back fires as weather changes
Moscow (AFP) Aug 16, 2010
Russia on Monday said it was beating back the country's worst ever wildfires, including one close to a secret nuclear site, as thunderstorms and torrential rain drenched parts of the parched country. The peat and forest fires in the countryside of central Russia have killed more than 50 people and raised concerns about the security of potentially dangerous strategic sites located in the vic ... read more







FIRE STORM
China mudslide town lacking supplies as rescuers end search

Pakistan's 'image deficit' hurts funds appeal: aid workers

UN warns of diseases in Pakistan floods

Time short for Ladakh flood victims as winter looms

FIRE STORM
"Fahrenheit 451" author burns at idea of digital books

Safer Plastics That Lock In Potentially Harmful Plasticizers

Power Problem With Insat-4B

Colorado Space Grant Consortium And LockMart To Develop CubeSat

FIRE STORM
First Louisiana shrimp season since BP oil spill starts

Obama, daughter swim in Gulf in act of reassurance

China begins moving 330,000 people for water project

First Satellite Measurement Of Water Volume In Amazon Floodplain

FIRE STORM
Indonesian Ice Field May Be Gone In A Matter Of Years

Giant Greenland iceberg a climate 'warning sign'

Arctic ice island poses no immediate threat, says discoverer

'City-sized' ice island breaks off glacier

FIRE STORM
AgBank shares mixed after confirming IPO world record

Scientists Find The First Evidence Of Genetically Modified Plants In The Wild

AgBank sets record as world's largest IPO: report

Russian grain export ban comes into force

FIRE STORM
New landslides in China leave 38 missing

Hurricane formation linked to sea color: study

Deadly Typhoon Dianmu cuts across Japan

Terrified trekkers recount flood 'hell' in Indian Himalayas

FIRE STORM
Two die as floods hit drought-stricken Niger

Senegal opponents protest bad governance, power cuts, floods

Mugabe thanks China for steadfast support

Mugabe urges army to 'jealously guard' Zimbabwe's resources

FIRE STORM
Oldest Evidence Of Stone Tool Use And Meat-Eating Among Human Ancestors

The Worst Impact Of Climate Change May Be How Humanity Reacts To It

Stone tools used by earliest 'butchers'

Reading The Zip Codes Of 3,500-Year-Old Letters


The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement