AFP UK

A 1987 treaty to repair a thin layer of ozone in the atmosphere that shields life on Earth from cancer-causing ultraviolet rays probably had the unintended benefit of preventing runaway climate change, even if that danger persists for other reasons, researchers said Wednesday.

If the Montreal Protocol had not banned the manmade gases that dissolve naturally occurring ozone, by 2100 they would have heated up the planet’s surface 2.5 degrees Celsius above-and-beyond warming caused by the carbon pollution humanity is struggling to curb today, they reported in the journal Nature.

An increase of barely 1C since the mid-19th century has seen climate change amplify deadly heatwaves, rainfall and coastal storms made more destructive by rising seas.

Even if nations manage against all odds to cap global warming below the Paris Agreement goal of 1.5C, the extra heat avoided thanks to the ozone treaty would have created an unliveable 4C world, the modelling study suggests.

It was already understood that the outlawed CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) would have added roughly 1.5 degrees to the global thermometer had they been allowed to further proliferate. 

Besides their corrosive effect on the ozone layer, CFCs — widely used in the 1970s and 1980s as a refrigerant — are also a potent greenhouse gas that traps heat up to 10,000 times more efficiently that carbon dioxide. 

But what researchers have neglected to investigate until now is the impact that extra UV radiation would have had on nature’s capacity to absorb greenhouse gases.

Since about 1960, forests and soil have soaked about 30 percent of all the CO2 humanity has chucked into the atmosphere — even as those emissions have increased by half. Oceans have syphoned off another 20 percent.

Researchers led by Paul Young from Lancaster University in England created models combining data on ozone depletion, plant damage caused by UV, Earth’s natural carbon cycle, and climate change.

– An alternate future avoided –

They discovered that the ability of plants to absorb CO2 would have been severely degraded by the ozone-destroying molecules.

“A world where these chemicals increased and continued to strip away at our protective ozone layer would have been catastrophic for human health,” said Young.

“But also for vegetation,” he added. “The increased UV would have massively stunted the ability of plants to soak up carbon from the atmosphere, meaning higher CO2 levels and more global warming.”     

Continued growth in CFCs would have led to a worldwide collapse in the ozone layer by the 2040s, the model showed.

The researchers calculated that by century’s end there would have been more than 2,000 billion fewer tonnes of CO2 stored in forests and soils — equivalent to 50 years’ worth emissions at current levels.

That alone would have added nearly a full degree Celsius to global temperatures by 2100.

“This analysis reveals a remarkable linkage — via the carbon cycle — between two global environmental concerns: damage to the ozone layer and global warming,” said co-author Chris Huntingford, a researcher at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.

Following the Montreal Protocol’s entry into force, global concentrations of CFCs declined steadily until about 2012. 

But in 2018 startled scientists discovered that the pace of that slowdown had dropped by half during the preceeding five years. 

Because the chemical does not occur in nature, the change in pace could only have been produced by new emissions. 

Evidence pointed to factories in eastern China. Once CFC production in that region stopped, the ozone layer’s healing process appeared to be back on track.

A recent study, however, found that the ozone layer — which varies in altitude from 10 to 40 kilometres — is unexpectedly declining in the lower stratosphere over the planet’s populated tropical and mid-latitude regions.

Up to now, CFCs and other molecules have mainly eroded ozone in the upper stratosphere, and over the poles.

Scientists are investigating two possible culprits: industrial chemicals not covered by the Montreal Protocol called “very short-lived substances” (VSLSs), and climate change.

Hundreds of firefighters struggled for a third day Wednesday to contain France’s worst wildfire of the summer near the glitzy Riviera resort of Saint-Tropez which has left two dead and forced thousands of residents and tourists to flee.

The fire is the latest to hit a Mediterranean region that has seen an onslaught of blazes claim lives in Greece, Turkey, Italy and Algeria in recent weeks, with numerous officials blaming climate change.

The fire near Saint-Tropez has scorched some 5,000 hectares in a region known for its forests, vineyards and fauna since it broke out in the Plaine des Maures nature reserve on Monday evening.

The fire “had not spread” during the night but “that does not mean it is under control,” said the fire service spokesman for the Var region, Franck Graciano.

“We will carry out the same basic work as yesterday by dropping water on the critical places,” he said.

Var’s senior local official, or prefect, Evence Richard said two people had been found dead, including one whose charred body was discovered in the village of Grimaud.

Investigators were seeking to identify the corpse, which was so badly disfigured that “nothing can indicate whether it is a man or a woman,” prosecutor Patrice Camberou said. “The house was completely destroyed by fire,” he added.

The other victim was a man, authorities said.

Twenty-four people have been lightly injured in this fire, including five firefighters, Richard said.

As for the thousands evacuated from holiday homes and camping sites, Richard said “we will re-evaluate the situation at the end of the afternoon… but for now a return is not on the agenda.

Around 1,200 firefighters were deployed, some using high-pressure hoses and water-bombing planes and helicopters to control the flames.

– ‘Battle is ongoing’ –

High temperatures and strong winds forced local authorities to evacuate around 7,000 people from homes and campsites, the Var prefecture said Tuesday, many to the safety of municipal buildings and schools.

Among them were 1,300 people staying at a campsite in the village of Bormes-les-Mimosas down the coast from Saint-Tropez.

Others fled the village of La Garde-Freinet, but there were no new evacuations overnight, the fire service said Wednesday.

“We started smelling the smoke around 7 pm, then we saw the flames on the hill,” said Cindy Thinesse, who fled a campsite near Cavalaire on Monday evening. 

“We hesitated, but when we saw that, we decided to leave,” she told AFP.

“The coming hours will be absolutely decisive” for the firefighting effort, President Emmanuel Macron, who has been taking his summer break on the Mediterranean coast, said during a visit to first responders on Tuesday evening.

While Macron added that “the battle is ongoing and the fire has not yet been contained, stabilised,” he said that the firefighters’ courage had managed to “avoid the worst”.

– ‘Climate change hotspot’ – 

The Mediterranean basin has long faced seasonal wildfires linked to its dry and hot weather in the summer, but climate scientists warn they will become increasingly common because of man-made global warming.

A draft UN assessment seen exclusively by AFP says that fire seasons will also last longer in the Mediterranean, which it called a “climate change hotspot”.

The French fire is believed to have started near a motorway stop some 30 kilometres (18 miles) northwest of Saint-Tropez.

“We’ve never seen it spread with such speed, it was three or four times the usual,” La Garde-Freinet’s mayor Thomas Dombry told AFP.

“Half of the Plain des Maures nature reserve has been devastated,” said Concha Agero, deputy director of the French Office of Biodiversity.

Charred power lines lay on the ground Tuesday, and many trees were burnt around their trunks but their branches were intact, suggesting the fire had ripped through at speed.

But after a calm night, on Wednesday technicians began trying to restore phone and electricity lines.

est-iw-wdb-sjw/dl

Hong Kong passed a new law on Wednesday that classifies wildlife trafficking as an organised crime issue, a move welcomed by conservationists because it will give law enforcement wider powers to combat the trade. 

With its busy port and transport links, Hong Kong has been thriving as a major transit point for illegal parts of endangered animals like elephants, rhinos and pangolins — most of it headed for consumers in mainland China.

On Wednesday lawmakers added illicit wildlife smuggling to the city’s Organised and Serious Crimes Ordinance, putting the trade on a par with drug and human trafficking.

The law, initially designed to combat the city’s triad organised crime gangs, contains wide investigatory powers for the police and heavier sentences for those convicted.

Courts also have broader powers to confiscate the proceeds of organised crime.

Wildlife seizures have reached new peaks in the past two years, including a record 8.3 tonnes of pangolin scales as well as 2.1 tonnes of ivory, according to a legislative filing.

The largest seizure of rhino horn — 82.5 kilograms — was made in 2019 at the airport. 

But arrests of those who really benefit from the lucrative trade are rare. 

A university study released last year found no wildlife traffickers have ever been prosecuted for money laundering related offences and no syndicates indicted for wildlife smuggling.

That study cited the failure to classify wildlife trafficking as organised crime as a major reason for the lack of convictions. 

Jovy Chan, wildlife conservation manager from World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-Hong Kong), welcomed that correction.

“Traffickers exploit the Hong Kong Ports for continuous trade of the world’s most endangered species of wild fauna and flora. The volume of trade is on the rise, contributing to the global extinction crisis,” she said.

“The amendment to the legislation is beneficial to collecting evidence for prosecutions in a bid to enhance the deterrent effect for the effective tackle of smuggling activities.”

Hundreds of firefighters struggled for a third day Wednesday to contain France’s worst wildfire of the summer near the glitzy Riviera resort of Saint-Tropez which has left one person dead and forced thousands of residents and tourists to flee.

The blaze has scorched some 5,000 hectares in a region known for its forests, vineyards and fauna since it broke out in the Plaine des Maures nature reserve on Monday evening.

The fire “had not spread” during the night but “that does not mean it is under control,” said the fire service spokesman for the Var region, Franck Graciano.

“We will carry out the same basic work as yesterday by dropping water on the critical places,” he said.

The local authorities in a statement said one person had died, the first confirmed fatality from this wildfire. The statement did not give the person’s identity or say how they had died.

Twenty-two people have been lightly injured, including 19 who inhaled toxic fumes, the authorities said. Five members of the fire brigade have also been lightly injured. 

Some 1,200 firefighters were deployed, some using high-pressure hoses and water-bombing planes and helicopters to control the flames.

High temperatures and strong winds forced local authorities to evacuate around 7,000 people from homes and campsites, the Var prefecture said Tuesday, many to the safety of municipal buildings and schools.

Among them were 1,300 people staying at a campsite in the village of Bormes-les-Mimosas down the coast from Saint-Tropez.

Other fled the village of La-Garde-Freinet, but there were no new evacuations overnight, the fire service said Wednesday.

“We started smelling the smoke around 7:00 pm, then we saw the flames on the hill,” said Cindy Thinesse, who fled a campsite near Cavalaire on Monday evening. 

“We hesitated, but when we saw that, we decided to leave,” she told AFP.

– ‘Battle is ongoing’ –

“The coming hours will be absolutely decisive” for the firefighting effort, President Emmanuel Macron, who has been taking his summer break on the Mediterranean coast, said during visit to first responders Tuesday evening.

While Macron added that “the battle is ongoing and the fire has not yet been contained, stabilised,” he said that the firefighters’ courage had managed to “avoid the worst”.

Large blazes have already ravaged parts of Turkey, Bulgaria, Albania, Northern Macedonia, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Israel, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco this year.

The Mediterranean basin has long faced seasonal wildfires linked to its dry and hot weather in the summer, but climate scientists warn they will become increasingly common because of man-made global warming.

The French fire is believed to have started near a motorway stop some 30 kilometres (18 miles) northwest of Saint-Tropez.

“We’ve never seen it spread with such speed, it was three or four times the usual,” Thomas Dombry, mayor of La Garde-Freinet village, told AFP.

Authorities were counting the cost to the environment even as the fires still raged Tuesday.

“Half of the Plain des Maures nature reserve has been devastated,” said Concha Agero, deputy director of the French Office of Biodiversity.

Charred power lines lay on the ground Tuesday, and many trees were burnt around their trunks but their branches were intact, suggesting the fire had ripped through at speed.

But after a calm night on Tuesday, technicians Wednesday began trying to restore phone and electricity lines.

est-iw-wdb-sjw/jv

Hundreds of firefighters struggled for a third day Wednesday to contain France’s worst wildfire of the summer near the glitzy Riviera resort of Saint-Tropez which has forced thousands of residents and tourists to flee.

The blaze has scorched some 5,000 hectares in a region known for its forests, vineyards and fauna since it broke out in the Plaine des Maures nature reserve on Monday evening.

The fire “had not spread” during the night but “that does not mean it is under control,” said the fire service spokesman for the Var region, Franck Graciano.

“We will carry out the same basic work as yesterday by dropping water on the critical places,” he said.

Some 1,200 firefighters were deployed, using high-pressure hoses and water-bombing planes and helicopters to control the flames.

High temperatures and strong winds forced local authorities to evacuate around 7,000 people from homes and campsites, the Var prefecture said Tuesday, many to the safety of municipal buildings and schools.

Among them were 1,300 people staying at a campsite in the village of Bormes-les-Mimosas down the coast from Saint-Tropez.

Other fled the village of La-Garde-Freinet, but there were not new evacuations overnight, the fire service said Wednesday.

“We started smelling the smoke around 7:00 pm, then we saw the flames on the hill,” said Cindy Thinesse, who fled a campsite near Cavalaire on Monday evening. 

“We hesitated, but when we saw that, we decided to leave,” she told AFP.

– ‘Battle is ongoing’ –

“The coming hours will be absolutely decisive” for the firefighting effort, President Emmanuel Macron, who has been taking his summer break on the Mediterranean coast, said during visit to first responders Tuesday evening.

While Macron added that “the battle is ongoing and the fire has not yet been contained, stabilised,” he said that the firefighters’ courage had managed to “avoid the worst” with no casualties so far.

Large blazes have already ravaged parts of Turkey, Bulgaria, Albania, Northern Macedonia, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Israel, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco this year.

The Mediterranean basin has long faced seasonal wildfires linked to its dry and hot weather in the summer, but climate scientists warn they will become increasingly common because of man-made global warming.

The French fire is believed to have started near a motorway stop some 30 kilometres (18 miles) northwest of Saint-Tropez.

“We’ve never seen it spread with such speed, it was three or four times the usual,” Thomas Dombry, mayor of La Garde-Freinet village, told AFP.

Authorities were counting the cost to the environment even as the fires still raged Tuesday.

“Half of the Plain des Maures nature reserve has been devastated,” Concha Agero, deputy director of the French Office of Biodiversity, said Tuesday.

Charred power lines lay on the ground Tuesday, and many trees were burnt around their trunks but their branches were intact, suggesting the fire had ripped through at speed.

But after a calm night on Tuesday, technicians Wednesday began trying to restore phone and electricity lines.

As devastating wildfires ravage Greece, experts say the blazes cast a harsh light on the failure to prepare against and contain them, threatening irreversible damage to the country’s rich biodiversity.  

Climate scientists warn extreme weather and fierce fires will become increasingly common due to man-made global warming, heightening the need to invest in teams, equipment and policy to battle the flames.   

But “Greece has always struggled to protect its rich ecosystem,” Takis Grigoriou, who heads the climate change department for Greenpeace Greece, told AFP. 

Greece — along with Turkey, Italy, Spain and Algeria — has been hit by a savage fire season that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis described as an “ecological disaster”.

Authorities were taken by surprise at the end of July, as hundreds of fires began around Athens, but also on the islands Evia and Rhodes and in the Peloponnese peninsula.  

Critics say poor infrastructure, weak policy and a lack of respect for nature are all at least partly to blame for the failure to contain the blazes in Greece. 

As a result, precious ecosystems will pay the price, and human lives are at risk. 

– Failing prevention policy –

In two weeks, more than 100,000 hectares of land went up in smoke, eating up buildings, pine forests, olive groves, beehives and livestock and forcing dozens to flee from their homes.

The European Forest Fire Information System said it is the biggest loss of land since 2007.

On Tuesday, over 400 Greek and Polish firefighters were battling a massive fire on a mountain near Vilia, about 60 kilometres (40 miles) northwest of Athens for a second day.

Sweltering heatwaves such as the ones blanketing southern Europe increase the flammability of forests.

But Efthymis Lekkas, Athens University professor of natural disaster management, said Greece’s failing operational and prevention systems are also to blame.  

“Firebreak roads in forests weren’t prioritised by the different Greek governments because they didn’t have a direct political impact,” he said, estimating the long-term impacts of the fires at around five billion euros ($5.9 billion).  

And illegal buildings, a lack of forest mapping and poor respect for nature are all part of a failing fire prevention policy, Grigoriou from Greenpeace said.  

Locals met by AFP denounced the firefighters’ lack of equipment to battle the huge blazes, which paled in comparison to the means of the firefighters from twenty other countries that came to lend a hand. 

One resident, who could only watch helplessly as her village in the north of Evia island was circled by flames, told local reporters that allowing the fires to get so close to homes was a crime.  

– Unique species –

Authorities organised mass evacuations to avoid deaths, with the memory of the loss of 102 lives in fires in July 2018 and 77 lives in 2007 still sore. This year, three deaths have been recorded so far.  

Beyond the loss of human life, such huge wildfires will cause immense and long-lasting biodiversity loss, says Diana Bell from British University of East Anglia’s School of Biological Sciences.  

“Greece is home to more than 6,000 different species of plants and trees,” with some of them “not found anywhere else in the world”, Bell told AFP. 

And when locals flee their homes as their properties are engulfed in flames, more rural areas are abandoned — increasing their flammability, she added. 

Athens has linked the wildfires to climate change, but environmental groups have accused the government of using rising temperatures as an excuse to cover up the lack of means and prevention policies.  

The country has ignored policy proposals from the World Wildlife Fund for 20 years, said the head of the group’s Greek chapter, Demetres Karavellas. 

“The climate crisis is not an excuse to fail but must be taken as an alarm to instigate change,” he said. 

As devastating wildfires ravage Greece, experts say the blazes cast a harsh light on the failure to prepare against and contain them, threatening irreversible damage to the country’s rich biodiversity.  

Climate scientists warn extreme weather and fierce fires will become increasingly common due to man-made global warming, heightening the need to invest in teams, equipment and policy to battle the flames.   

But “Greece has always struggled to protect its rich ecosystem,” Takis Grigoriou, who heads the climate change department for Greenpeace Greece, told AFP. 

Greece — along with Turkey, Italy, Spain and Algeria — has been hit by a savage fire season that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis described as an “ecological disaster”.

Authorities were taken by surprise at the end of July, as hundreds of fires began around Athens, but also on the islands Evia and Rhodes and in the Peloponnese peninsula.  

Critics say poor infrastructure, weak policy and a lack of respect for nature are all at least partly to blame for the failure to contain the blazes in Greece. 

As a result, precious ecosystems will pay the price, and human lives are at risk. 

– Failing prevention policy –

In two weeks, more than 100,000 hectares of land went up in smoke, eating up buildings, pine forests, olive groves, beehives and livestock and forcing dozens to flee from their homes.

The European Forest Fire Information System said it is the biggest loss of land since 2007.

On Tuesday, over 400 Greek and Polish firefighters were battling a massive fire on a mountain near Vilia, about 60 kilometres (40 miles) northwest of Athens for a second day.

Sweltering heatwaves such as the ones blanketing southern Europe increase the flammability of forests.

But Efthymis Lekkas, Athens University professor of natural disaster management, said Greece’s failing operational and prevention systems are also to blame.  

“Firebreak roads in forests weren’t prioritised by the different Greek governments because they didn’t have a direct political impact,” he said, estimating the long-term impacts of the fires at around five billion euros ($5.9 billion).  

And illegal buildings, a lack of forest mapping and poor respect for nature are all part of a failing fire prevention policy, Grigoriou from Greenpeace said.  

Locals met by AFP denounced the firefighters’ lack of equipment to battle the huge blazes, which paled in comparison to the means of the firefighters from twenty other countries that came to lend a hand. 

One resident, who could only watch helplessly as her village in the north of Evia island was circled by flames, told local reporters that allowing the fires to get so close to homes was a crime.  

– Unique species –

Authorities organised mass evacuations to avoid deaths, with the memory of the loss of 102 lives in fires in July 2018 and 77 lives in 2007 still sore. This year, three deaths have been recorded so far.  

Beyond the loss of human life, such huge wildfires will cause immense and long-lasting biodiversity loss, says Diana Bell from British University of East Anglia’s School of Biological Sciences.  

“Greece is home to more than 6,000 different species of plants and trees,” with some of them “not found anywhere else in the world”, Bell told AFP. 

And when locals flee their homes as their properties are engulfed in flames, more rural areas are abandoned — increasing their flammability, she added. 

Athens has linked the wildfires to climate change, but environmental groups have accused the government of using rising temperatures as an excuse to cover up the lack of means and prevention policies.  

The country has ignored policy proposals from the World Wildlife Fund for 20 years, said the head of the group’s Greek chapter, Demetres Karavellas. 

“The climate crisis is not an excuse to fail but must be taken as an alarm to instigate change,” he said. 

The death toll from a 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti has risen to 1,941, the Caribbean nation’s civil protection agency said Tuesday, as a tropical storm brought torrential downpours on survivors already coping with catastrophe.

More than 9,900 people were wounded when the quake struck the southwestern part of the Caribbean nation on Saturday, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) to the west of the capital Port-au-Prince, according to the updated toll.

With more than 60,000 homes destroyed and 76,000 damaged, the United Nations’ children’s agency UNICEF said that more than half a million children have been affected by the disaster.

In the coastal town of Les Cayes, residents began building makeshift shelters on a football field despite  lashing winds and pouring rain as Tropical Storm Grace passed over the country. 

So few structures remained standing that people had to relieve themselves in city streets, according to Magalie Cadet, 41, who only had a shower cap to protect against the rain.

Aftershocks continued to rock the ground in Les Cayes days after the quake, further terrifying the residents.

“Yesterday evening, I took shelter near a church, but when I heard the ground shake again, I ran to return here,” said Cadet.

The government has declared a month-long state of emergency in the four provinces affected by the quake. 

Rescue workers have pulled out 34 people alive from the rubble in the past 48 hours, authorities said.

The United States, which has evacuated about 40 people for emergency treatment, has chartered eight military helicopters from Honduras to continue medical evacuation efforts. 

The USS Arlington, a US Navy transport ship, is also due to arrive in Haiti on Wednesday with a surgical team on board, the Pentagon’s Southern Command said. Field operating theaters are also being set up at some hospitals in the earthquake zone. 

– Rather be ‘wet than dead’ – 

The US National Hurricane Center warned of flash and urban flooding, and possible mudslides as Grace lashed the impoverished country with up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) of rain. 

Haiti officials warned residents to watch out for buildings that are showing cracks from the earthquake because they could collapse under the weight of water. 

Despite the rain, drinking water was running short. In the coastal community of Pestel, over 1,800 cisterns with drinking water have cracked or been destroyed in the quake. 

In 2010, in the aftermath of a horrific earthquake that killed 200,000 people, Haiti saw a deadly cholera outbreak caused by sewage from a United Nations base.

Natacha Lormira tried to build a shelter for herself using a torn piece of tarp attached to a thin piece of wood. 

“I don’t want to hide under a gallery or under a corner of a wall because we have seen people die under wall panels,” said Lormira. “We have resigned ourselves that it’s easier to be wet than dead.”

– Government ‘not helping’ –

Wet from the constant rain, 28-year-old Vladimir Gilles tried to insert several pieces of bamboo deep into the ground to build a cover for his wife and child. 

Gilles said he needs some tarp to keep his family dry, but the government “is not helping.” 

“My house is destroyed, I have nowhere to sleep,” he said.

On the grounds of the Ofatma hospital in Les Cayes, American soldiers unloaded boxes of equipment before welcoming a severely injured man on a stretcher and a wounded child carried in the arms of a worker from the HERO medical evacuation organization.

“This little boy has a cerebral hemorrhage … If we can help him, he can have a normal childhood, so it makes a difference,” said Carolyn Davies, a nurse from the NGO Canadian Medical Assistance, who arrived in Les Cayes the day after the disaster. 

The international support is a relief for the medical team at the hospital in Les Cayes.

But any official rescue efforts in one of the world’s poorest countries are complicated by political chaos raging there a month after the assassination of president Jovenel Moise.

Nuclear scientists using lasers the size of three football fields said Tuesday they had generated a huge amount of energy from fusion, possibly offering hope for the development of a new clean energy source.

Experts focused their giant array of almost 200 laser beams onto a tiny spot to create a mega blast of energy — eight times more than they had ever done in the past.

Although the energy only lasted for a very short time — just 100 trillionths of a second — it took scientists closer to the holy grail of fusion ignition, the moment when they are creating more energy than they are using.

“This result is a historic advance for inertial confinement fusion research,” said Kim Budil, the director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which operates the National Ignition Facility in California, where the experiment took place this month.

Nuclear fusion is considered by some scientists to be a potential energy of the future, particularly because it produces little waste and no greenhouse gases. 

It differs from fission, a technique currently used in nuclear power plants, where the bonds of heavy atomic nuclei are broken to release energy. 

In the fusion process, two light atomic nuclei are “married” to create a heavy one.

In this experiment scientists used two isotopes of hydrogen, giving rise to helium. 

This is the process that is at work in stars, including our Sun. 

“The NIF teams have done an extraordinary job,” said Professor Steven Rose, co-director of the center for research in this field at Imperial College London. 

“This is the most significant advance in inertial fusion since its beginning in 1972.” 

But, warned Jeremy Chittenden, co-director of the same center in London, making this a useable source of energy is not going to be easy.

“Turning this concept into a renewable source of electrical power will probably be a long process and will involve overcoming significant technical challenges,” he said.

French firefighters battled to contain a raging wildfire near the glitzy Mediterranean resort of Saint-Tropez on Tuesday, with thousands of residents and holidaymakers forced to evacuate. 

Roughly 1,000 firefighters were using high-pressure hoses, aircraft and helicopters in an attempt to control the flames, which began racing through the scrubland and trees of the Plaine des Maures nature reserve on Monday evening.

“The coming hours will be absolutely decisive” for the firefighting effort, President Emmanuel Macron said during an early evening visit to first responders.

While Macron added that “the battle is ongoing and the fire has not yet been contained, stabilised,” he said that the firefighters’ courage had managed to “avoid the worst” with no casualties so far.

Eric Grohin, a colonel in the Var department firefighters, said the flames were regularly leaping gaps of up to 800 metres (900 yards), making it difficult to hem the blazes in.

“There’s not much we can do beyond protecting human lives and homes,” he said.

But a spokesman for the firefighters later told AFP that the wind had dropped.

“The situation isn’t as worrying as last night, but it remains a concern,” he said.

Around 7,000 people have been evacuated from homes and campsites, the Var prefecture said, many to the safety of municipal buildings and schools.

Among them were 1,300 people staying at a campsite in the village of Bormes-les-Mimosas down the coast from Saint-Tropez.

Many tourists could be still be seen enjoying the sunshine on the nearby Cote d’Azur beaches, however, as Canadair firefighting aircraft swooped in regularly to fill their tanks from the sea before returning to the smoking hills nearby. 

Others loaded up their cars and headed for safety, leading officials to plead for people in secure areas to stay at home and avoid blocking roads used by the emergency services. 

“We started smelling the smoke around 7:00 pm (1700 GMT), then we saw the flames on the hill,” said Cindy Thinesse, who fled the Mole campsite near Cavalaire on Monday evening. “We hesitated, but when we saw that, we decided to leave,” she told AFP.

President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte are on holiday at the nearby Bregancon Fort and he announced he would visit the scene later Tuesday.

– Portugal, Spain fires –

Large blazes have already ravaged parts of Turkey, Bulgaria, Albania, Northern Macedonia, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Israel, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco this year.

The Mediterranean basin has long faced seasonal wildfires linked to its dry and hot weather in the summer, but climate scientists warn they will become increasingly common because of man-made global warming.

Around 600 firefighters in Portugal were also battling a fresh blaze in Castro Marim in the Algarve region on Tuesday, a tourist hotspot in the far south of the country close to the border with Spain.

A separate fire in central Spain near Navalacruz is also being brought under control, regional authorities have said, but around 12,000 hectares of forest have gone up in flames. 

– ‘Such speed’ –

The French fire is believed to have started near a motorway that runs through the Plaine des Maures nature reserve some 30 kilometres (18 miles) northwest of Saint-Tropez.

The wind-fanned blaze had ripped through some 6,500 hectares of forest and scrubland by Tuesday, according to the fire department.

“We’ve never seen it spread with such speed, it was three or four times the usual,” Thomas Dombry, mayor of La Garde-Freinet village, told AFP.

Authorities were counting the cost to the environment even as the fires still raged Tuesday.

“Half of the Plain des Maures nature reserve has been devastated,” said Concha Agero, deputy director of the French Office of Biodiversity.

Charred power lines lay on the ground Tuesday, as well as vines in place.

Many trees were burnt around their trunks but their branches were intact, suggesting the fire had ripped through at speed.

The fire came close to La Garde-Freinet during the night but spared the settlement, which was badly hit in 2003 by a catastrophic blaze that cost the lives of three firefighters. 

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