Climate burns Europe's forests – and detonates World War II bombs

Wildfires in Europe are exposing rusted bombs and mines from the world wars, endangering firefighting crews. January rains grew thick shrubs, and drought dried them out, helping the fire spread and making the ordnance a deadly hazard. Sporadic explosions of buried ammunition have been reported in France, Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands.

The raging wildfires across Europe this summer are revealing a deadly threat lurking underground: rusted bombs and mines from World War I and World War II. Heavy rains in January encouraged the growth of dense vegetation, which dried out in the summer heat and became fuel. As the fire spread over old battlefields, intense heat caused sporadic explosions of buried ammunition in France, Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands. In Belgium, the bomb disposal service handles over 3,000 calls a year and neutralizes between 200 and 250 tons of ammunition from both world wars. Researchers emphasize that climate change is disrupting the stability that characterized Europe and kept buried weapons dormant. Drought has also contributed to the exposure of naval mines in the Danube in Slovakia and a bomb at the Margit Bridge in Budapest. The article quotes a local historian, a German spokesperson, and researchers, noting that the legacy of war continues to surface in new ways due to the changing climate.