In addition to Florida, forest fires also occur in the state of Georgia, but one of the worst situations in recent years is around the city of Jacksonville in northern Florida.
“Florida is experiencing one of the worst fire seasons in maybe 30 or 40 years,” Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson said according to the AP.
It is not yet clear how the forest fires started. However, the long-term drought in the area and the stronger wind that has been here in recent days contribute to their spread. According to Simpson, there has been a drought in Florida for 18 months.
Larger fires in the south of Georgia and in the north of Florida were also visible on satellite images, where it is also clearly visible where the smoke from the fires is going.
In total, fires burned 88 square kilometers in Florida, mostly in the north of the state. Approximately 80 km were burned in Georgia2 and almost 50 houses were destroyed here. Because of the fires, some schools were also evacuated and closed, and train traffic was also limited.
Fires have become more and more frequent in the world in recent years. According to a new report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), there is a strong link between fires and heat waves. In many places, the fire season is now longer than before and fires are more intense than the long-term average.
