Chile has been ravaged since February 2 by forest fires of unprecedented scale. More than 130 dead and hundreds missing, thousands of houses destroyed and more than 43,000 hectares of forest reduced to ashes.
“The greatest climate tragedy in more than ten years,” according to Chilean President Gabriel Boric. The combined effects of El Niño and climate change are put forward to explain the extent of the damage caused by the fires during previous fires in Chile. South America is experiencing the most extreme heat wave in its history: hundreds of records are smashed.