After hours of being battered by winds and watching trees fall, we now look up at the tall pines and other large trees in urban areas with dread.
But are the trees really to blame? These trees were planted decades ago in areas with few buildings, no pavements, and little concrete or tarmac.
Then came the urban sprawl that buried their roots, leaving them hardly any room to breathe or absorb water.
Then came the drought and the extended heatwaves reaching 40°C, finishing off trees that had survived for half a century or more, trees that once shaded homes from a different era.
And then they came crashing down. They fell on cars, tumbled onto power lines, spreading fear.
Yes, the wind speeds were extreme, just like other extreme weather events we’re experiencing.
But if you look inside the trunks of the massive trees that couldn’t withstand Sunday’s winds, you’ll find they were already practically dead.
They’re victims of climate change, not enemies of the humans alongside whom they had lived harmoniously for years.
In areas like Agios Andreas in Nicosia, known for its tall trees and gardens (even after recent losses), the effects of drought are plain to see.
The trees that fell on Sunday weren’t the first casualties. They were preceded by many others that had withered and were removed with official permission.
In other words, we’re already living with the consequences of climate change, even if we’d prefer to believe this is just a passing storm.
But one storm follows another, and they’re all extreme now. The rains, the winds, the heat…
Scientists rank the Mediterranean region among those that will be hit hardest by climate change.
“In the Mediterranean, heat and drought will become more severe”, warns Michael Oppenheimer, one of the first scientists to speak about climate change.
In an interview with Vima (17/11), he explains, “The new climate pattern will bring heavy rainfall and floods occurring consecutively during drought periods. Based on existing infrastructure built decades ago, when climate conditions were very different, these will be unmanageable”.
“Mediterranean countries must make immediate decisions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but more urgently, they must decide how to protect their populations from incoming disasters through appropriate infrastructure development. This may be costly, but in the long term, it will be far less expensive than managing disasters.”
And what are we doing? We continue to build and pour concrete. And then we blame the trees.