TUESDAY August 1, 2023: 'Paradise LOST' by CTK photo-journalist Pavel Nemecek: The wildfires on Rhodes, spurred by a sweltering heat wave, triggered a huge evacuation of residents and tourists on the island last weekend as forests burned for a week. Fires have been raging across Greece, including outside the capital Athens and in Rhodes, fueled by three consecutive heat waves. Five people have died, including two firefighter pilots. Temperatures pushed 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Climate change is making the world hotter and is charged this year by the natural and cyclical El Nino event, which warms the Pacific. The Mediterranean region has withered under record-breaking temperatures. July is the hottest month globally ever recorded, and it's likely 2023 will be the hottest year. Welcome to 'Paradise LOST'
© zReportage.com Story of the Week #899: TUESDAY August 1, 2023: 'Paradise LOST' by CTK photo-journalist Pavel Nemecek: The wildfires on Rhodes, spurred by a sweltering heat wave, triggered a huge evacuation of residents and tourists on the island last weekend as forests burned for a week. Fires have been raging across Greece, including outside the capital Athens and in Rhodes, fueled by three consecutive heat waves. Five people have died, including two firefighter pilots. Temperatures pushed 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Climate change is making the world hotter and is charged this year by the natural and cyclical El Nino event, which warms the Pacific. The Mediterranean region has withered under record-breaking temperatures. July is the hottest month globally ever recorded, and it's likely 2023 will be the hottest year. Welcome to 'Paradise LOST'

Flames leap into the air as a wildfire spreads along a hillside in the southern part of the Greek island of Rhodes. The wildfires, spurred by a sweltering heat wave, triggered a huge evacuation of residents and tourists on the island as forests burned for a week.
© Pavel Nemecek/CTK via ZUMA Press

Firefighters battle fires in the southern part of the Greek island of Rhodes. Fires have been raging across Greece, including outside the capital Athens and in Rhodes, fueled by three consecutive heat waves. Five people have died, including two firefighter pilots.
© Pavel Nemecek/CTK via ZUMA Press

Under a smoke filled sky a burnt out camper van sits in a charred landscape at sunset. The aftermath of a wildfire in the southern part of the Greek island of Rhodes.
© Pavel Nemecek/CTK via ZUMA Press

Smoke fills the air as a resident helps to extinguish a wildfire spreading in the central part of the Greek island of Rhodes.
© Pavel Nemecek/CTK via ZUMA Press

A Greek firefighter puts out hotspots with a hose in the southern part of the Greek island of Rhodes after a wildfire swept through the area.
© Pavel Nemecek/CTK via ZUMA Press

The burnt landscape and abandoned beaches at a hotel resort hit by a fire near the town of Lardos on the Greek island of Rhodes.
© Pavel Nemecek/CTK via ZUMA Press

The Greek national flag flies over the beach as a small number of people enjoy the sun and sand at a resort near the town of Lardos on the Greek island of Rhodes, where the fire stopped just short of the structures.
© Pavel Nemecek/CTK via ZUMA Press

A burned car sits in-front of a destroyed home, the aftermath of a fire that is spreading in the central part of the Greek island of Rhodes.
© Pavel Nemecek/CTK via ZUMA Press

Tourists watch wildfires spreading over hillsides on the Aegean Sea island of Rhodes in Greece. July was the hottest month globally ever recorded, and it's likely 2023 will be the hottest year.
© Pavel Nemecek/CTK via ZUMA Press

A fire damaged tourist resort and swimming pool near the town of Lardos on the Greek island of Rhodes, where the wild fire stopped just short of the walls of the main resort buildings.
© Pavel Nemecek/CTK via ZUMA Press

Flames engulf dry vegetation as a wildfire spreads in the central part of the Greek island of Rhodes.
© Pavel Nemecek/CTK via ZUMA Press

A resident helps to douse flames using a fire extinguisher as fire spreads in the central part of the Greek island of Rhodes.
© Pavel Nemecek/CTK via ZUMA Press

A helicopter drops water as a wildfire burns vegetation in the central part of the Greek island of Rhodes.
© Pavel Nemecek/CTK via ZUMA Press

Fire burns a swath of dry vegetation in the central part of the Greek island of Rhodes.
© Pavel Nemecek/CTK via ZUMA Press

A local resident uses a garden hose to try to douse flames from a wildfire spreading in the southern part of the Greek island of Rhodes.
© Pavel Nemecek/CTK via ZUMA Press

A burned car sits in a charred landscape, the aftermath of a fire that is spreading in the central part of the Greek island of Rhodes.
© Pavel Nemecek/CTK via ZUMA Press

Aerial view shows a scorched landscape all the way to the ocean, near the town of Asklipio (Asklepieion) on the Greek island of Rhodes.
© Pavel Nemecek/CTK via ZUMA Press

A beach goer walks with an inflatable past burnt trees. Deserted beaches in a fire-hit area near the town of Asklipio (Asklepieion) on the Greek island of Rhodes.
© Pavel Nemecek/CTK via ZUMA Press

Firefighters walk on the beach in the area affected by a fire near the town of Asklipio (Asklepieion) on the island of Rhodes. Fires have been raging across Greece, including outside the capital Athens and in Rhodes, fueled by three consecutive heat waves. Five people have died in the fires, including two firefighter pilots.
© Pavel Nemecek/CTK via ZUMA Press

Tourists swim and watch as a fire fighting helicopter collects ocean water to be used to douse the nearby flames in a fire-hit area near the town of Asklipio (Asklepieion) on the Greek island of Rhodes.
© Pavel Nemecek/CTK via ZUMA Press

Czech tourists arrived from the fire-hit Greek island of Rhodes at the Jan Kaspar Terminal at the Pardubice Airport. The fires, spurred by a sweltering heat wave that blanketed Greece, triggered a huge evacuation of residents and tourists.
© Josef Vostarek/CTK via ZUMA Press