Technologies

Greece’s fires: Causes, casualties and everything you need to know

It was the hottest summer in Greece since 1987.

Amid its fiercest heatwave in 30 years, Greece is facing a «natural disaster of unprecedented proportions.» Those are the words of the country’s prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who said in an address to the nation on Monday that firefighters had battled over 580 fires.

With the blazes well into their second week, at least two people have died, around 10% of the country’s forests have been burned, and the international community is sending supplies. «We may have done what was humanly possible, but sometimes that wasn’t enough in the uneven battle with nature,» Mitsotakis said Monday night.

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Confronting imagery of the flames has spread across social media, showing alarming scenes similar to catastrophic fires seen in Australia and California. It comes less than a month after floods devastated central Europe, and as Siberia, Turkey and Italy too battle intense wildfires.

The wildfires are thought to be a product of climate change, with extreme weather events made more likely by Earth’s warming atmosphere. On Monday the International Panel on Climate Change released its latest report, detailing the path humanity is charting to a potentially uninhabitable world.

When did the fire start?

The fires began in late July, in the city of Petras. As July turned to August, conflagrations occurred mainly in four more regions: Attica, Olympia, Messenia, and Evia. The fires in Attica and Evia are north and northeast of Athens — close enough for suburbs in Athens to literally feel the heat, with the blue summer sky now turned into a smoky grey — while the fires in Olympia and Messenia are in south western, more regional Greece.

The fires are blazing throughout much of the country, with Deputy Civil Protection Minister for Crisis Management Nikos Hardalias saying over 60 fires were active over the weekend. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said firefighters had battled over 560 fires in total.

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Despite the breadth of the wildfires, the northeast island of Evia is the epicenter. The national government has urged residents of Evia to evacuate their homes, though many have defied orders. Boats have been ferrying thousands of Evia residents to safer parts of the country.

With no end immediately in sight, the blazes have already proven to be an ecological disaster. An estimated 10-12% of the country’s forests have been burned, amounting to 93,000 hectares of damage. Two people have died in the fires, including a firefighter, and 20 have been injured.

What caused the fires?

Extreme heat. Greece has experienced a particularly hot European summer, said to be the most sustained heatwave since one in 1987 that killed over 1,000. The heatwave has also affected Italy and Turkey, with wildfires in the latter country having claimed eight lives already.

Potential arson is being investigated as a cause, with at least three people having been arrested for arson thus far. However, the heat conditions that allowed the blazes to spark and blaze are being blamed at least in part by climate change. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was unequivocal on the blaze’s cause: «If there are even few people who have reservations about whether climate change is real, I call on them to come here and see,» he said.

«We have seen devastating fires in Turkey and Greece amid an intense and long-lasting heatwave in the Mediterranean,» said World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary-General Petteri Taalas. «Siberia — a region traditionally associated with permafrost — has once again seen huge wildfires after exceptional heatwaves, fires and low Arctic sea ice in 2020.»

«The harsh reality of climate change is playing out in real time before our very eyes.»

An IPCC report published Monday contained a staggering amount of data and evidence that human activity is causing the planet to warm, and our window to arrest the process is closing. The report provides the most up-to-date estimates on the increasing likelihood the climate will surpass a 1.5-degree Celsius level of warming in the next decades, and — as IPCC reports have since 1990 — it urges immediate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Is anyone helping Greece?

Thankfully, yes.

Over 20 countries have contributed to Greece’s battle against the wildfires. Firefighters have been sent by France, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Kuwait, Israel, Kuwait, Maldova, Romania, Qatar, Serbia, Slovakia, the UK and the Ukraine. Others, like Russia, Spain and the US have sent airplanes and other vehicles.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Aug. 13, #1516: Did You Know This Word?

Here are hints and the answer for today’s super-difficult Wordle for Aug. 13, No. 1,516

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle is a pretty tough one. It describes a drink that most Americans have probably never tried before, and the letters aren’t super common, either. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has two vowels.

Wordle hint No. 3: Start letter.

Today’s Wordle answer begins with K.

Wordle hint No. 4:Drink up

Today’s Wordle refers to a beverage.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer refers to a fermented milk drink with a sour taste, which originates from the Caucasus Mountains.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is KEFIR.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, Aug. 12, No. 1515 was NOMAD.

Recent Wordle answers

Aug. 8, No. 1511: IMBUE

Aug. 9, No. 1512: NASAL

Aug. 10, No. 1513: MINTY

Aug. 11, No. 1514: SOUTH

What’s the best Wordle starting word?

Don’t be afraid to use our tip sheet ranking all the letters in the alphabet by frequency of uses. In short, you want starter words that lean heavy on E, A and R, and don’t contain Z, J and Q.

Some solid starter words to try:

ADIEU

TRAIN

STARE

NOISE

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Aug. 13, #794

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Aug. 13, #794.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

I loved the blue group in today’s NYT Connections puzzle. And if you’re a music lover who’s always found band names interesting, you might, too. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group, to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Fascinate.

Green group hint: Just a part of something.

Blue group hint: Think band names.

Purple group hint: Shape on a certain Hollywood sidewalk.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Captivate.

Green group: Excerpt.

Blue group: Member of a girl group.

Purple group: Star ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is captivate. The four answers are charm, entrance, rivet and thrill.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is excerpt. The four answers are clip, extract, passage and quote.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is member of a girl group. The four answers are Bangle, Chick, Go-Go and Supreme.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is star ____. The four answers are board, fish, gate and struck.

Toughest Connections puzzles

We’ve made a note of some of the toughest Connections puzzles so far. Maybe they’ll help you see patterns in future puzzles.

#5: Included «things you can set,» such as mood, record, table and volleyball.

#4: Included «one in a dozen,» such as egg, juror, month and rose.

#3: Included «streets on screen,» such as Elm, Fear, Jump and Sesame.

#2: Included «power ___» such as nap, plant, Ranger and trip.

#1: Included «things that can run,» such as candidate, faucet, mascara and nose.

Technologies

Act Quickly Because the Beats Solo 4 Wireless Headphones Are 50% Off, but Not for Long

If you’re quick, you can snag the Beats Solo 4 headphones for just $100, with several colors to choose from.

If you’re looking at getting some shiny new headphones, and you want a serious audio upgrade, then you could be staring down at a nasty price tag. Thankfully, there can be some amazing deals here and there. Right now, that includes getting a pair of Beats Solo 4 headphones for half-price.

That means you can get these excellent headphones for just $100, and you can choose from a few different colors as well. These are excellent headphones, but the deal won’t last long, so we recommend snapping them up now if you want them.

As far as headphone deals go, you won’t want to miss this one. The Beats Solo 4 headphones have plenty going for them, including a 50-hour battery life, so you won’t need to reach for the charger that often. And when you do need to charge them up, a 10-minute charge gives you 5 hours of listening time. If you prefer to listen with a cable instead of wirelessly, you can do so with the Beats Solo 4, which includes support for high-quality audio.

Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money.

CNET’s audio expert David Carnoy rated the Beats Solo 4 highly in his full review last year but advised readers to wait for them to drop to $130 or so. The colors on sale for $100 include matte black, pink and blue, and all have custom acoustic architecture and updated drivers to offer the signature sound from Beats. If you’re a fan of bass, you won’t be disappointed. The adjustable earcups and UltraPlush cushions ensure long listening sessions are comfortable.

HEADPHONE DEALS OF THE WEEK

Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Noise Cancelling Over-Ear Headphones (Navy):

$298 (save $50)
Soundcore Life Q20 Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling Headphones (Black):

$40 (save $20)
Beats Studio Pro Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones (Black):

$300 (save $51)
Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless ANC Over-Ear Headphones (Black):

$299 (save $151)
Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2e ANC Over-Ear Headphones (Black):

$220 (save $180)

Deals are selected by the CNET Group commerce team, and may be unrelated to this article.

Why this deal matters

The Apple-owned Beats brand is iconic, and this is your chance to put a pair of the company’s popular headphones in your tech bag at a huge saving. Getting anything for half the price is an incredible opportunity. Being able to pick your color sweetens the deal, but the limited-time nature of the deal does mean you need to act sooner rather than later.