A highly unusual blanket of heavy snow fell on parts of northeastern Turkey on Friday, even as other regions of the country grappled with a growing number of devastating wildfires. This stark contrast in weather phenomena underscores the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events attributed to human-driven climate change, including droughts, heatwaves, and hailstorms.
Temperatures plummeted dramatically in mountainous areas inland from Rize, a town on Turkey’s northeastern Black Sea coast, located approximately 120 kilometers (75 miles) from the border with Georgia. Gencaga Karafazlioglu, a journalist based in Rize, expressed his astonishment, stating he had “never before seen snow in July.” He added, “In Rize, we’re used to weather anomalies. We’ve had snow several times in March but never this much. The older generation say they saw snow in July 30 or 40 years ago but never this much.”
Social media footage captured striking scenes from Ovit Yaylasi, a plateau situated around 2,500 meters (8,200 feet) above sea level, where fields were entirely blanketed in white after the snowfall. The rare July snow covered an extensive area stretching at least 100 kilometers, from Anzer Yaylasi through the Kackar Mountains National Park and beyond. Karafazlioglu noted that “The town of Artvin was the worst hit,” referring to a town about 50 kilometers inland.
Concurrently, firefighters across the country were battling at least 10 “major” forest fires on Friday, Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli confirmed in a press conference. The minister reported that wildfires in Izmir province, where two people tragically died on Thursday and temperatures were forecast to hit 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in the coming days, were now largely under control. However, he expressed ongoing concern about flames fanned by strong winds that continued to threaten Mugla in the southwest and Hatay in the south of the country. Yumakli highlighted an “intense struggle” to control the blaze in Hatay, which is situated near the border with Syria.
The minister also revealed that there had been 624 wildfires in Turkey over the past week, with many attributed to faulty electric cables. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced that 44 suspects had been arrested and 10 placed in detention in connection with the fires, stating that most were workers or farmers using machinery that had caused sparks. This dual extreme weather event serves as a powerful illustration of the diverse and often contradictory impacts of global climate change.
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