As summer kicks in, major heat waves have become the norm, and Europe right now is going through one.

Heat waves across southern Europe earlier this week pushed temperatures above 40 C in countries including Italy, Spain and Greece, as local authorities had issued warnings against the risk of wildfires. A large wildfire had broken out south of Athens on Thursday, forcing evacuations and road closures near the ancient Temple of Poseidon. Wildfires also raged in Turkey earlier in the week. Yesterday, temperatures were forecast to reach 40 degrees Celsius in Paris and to stay unusually high in Belgium and the Netherlands, although temperatures were finally falling in Portugal.

Malta has been hit with 30 C+ temperatures, but thankfully has thus far not hit the 40 C mark.

In recent years, the impact on the island's infrastructure of scorching heat became evident, when underground electricity cables began failing. In the middle of a scorching heatwave, people were left without fans and air conditioners. Since then, the government has embarked on a campaign of works to prevent the issue from happening again.

Internationally, last year there were a number of wildfires that broke out across parts of Europe due to heat.

Climate change is clearly having an effect, and yet countries are not doing enough to collectively tackle the issue.

An article carried by the Associated Press in June read that a report "predicts that society will have emitted enough carbon dioxide by early 2028 that crossing an important long-term temperature boundary will be more likely than not. The scientists calculate that by that point there will be enough of the heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere to create a 50-50 chance or greater that the world will be locked in to 1.5 degrees Celsius of long-term warming since preindustrial times. That level of gas accumulation, which comes from the burning of fuels like gasoline, oil and coal, is sooner than the same group of 60 international scientists calculated in a study last year."

Malta is a small country, yet it is presently the Chair on the Council of Europe. Tackling climate change must remain a priority for countries around the world, and while not having a loud voice in the international field, it has made it count in the past. Malta should step up its efforts to call for stronger action to combat the causes of climate change.

 Meanwhile, here at home, efforts must be boosted to move Malta more towards using renewable energy sources, among other things.

Climate change is not an issue that we can afford to forget about, and requires global collaboration to tackle.