Sicily on Fire

A photo composite of two exposures. From the photographer: “Global warming is not just a scientific theory. It has concrete effects in everyday life as the populations of the Mediterranean can testify. Greece has been on fire for several days. Northern Italy is subject to storm cells that have brought devastation in the form of rains, winds and hail of disproportionate effects. Southern Italy, on the other hand, is hit by waves of Saharan heat and drought that lasts for whole weeks.

Unfortunately, the strong sirocco wave that is hitting Sicily is causing very great inconvenience. Not only is the island subject to heat with temperatures that touch, and sometimes exceed, 45 ° C, but unfortunately it is subject to the criminal action of numerous arsonists who, in a coordinated manner, have set fire to large areas all over Sicily. Things are not changing as testify this image from 2021. At that moment the Moon is rising above the horizon but its red tints are not only due to the lower layers of the atmosphere but also to the glow of the fire and the interaction of the ashes. The fire hit the area between Piana degli Albanesi, San Giuseppe Jato and above all Portella della Ginestra This photograph leaves a bad taste in the mouth because it associates the beauty of an astronomical landscape with the drama of the fires and the incivility of some criminals who have unfortunately ruined one of the symbolic places of struggle and social redemption in Sicilian history.”

Technical details:
Canon 6d, sigma 150-600 mm, f/6.3, iso 200, 30 sec and iso 1600, 1 sec