The fires triggered the largest known deployment of the EU’s civil protection firefighting force, and with rising average temperatures climate scientists predict that things are only going to get worse. Perversely, the fires themselves are adding to the problem by releasing even more planet-warming carbon dioxide gas (CO2) into the atmosphere.

Locals are becoming increasingly frustrated – and terrified – by the lack of action on climate change and the devastating fires it is fuelling. Here we see protestors holding placards reading “No more fires” in Verin, Spain, an area that had suffered a 16-day-long heatwave that summer.

Read on to discover the incredible places that will be underwater by 2050

Incredible images that show the true impact of climate change