In today’s world heatwaves, wildfires, flooding rain, hurricanes and typhoons. This summer, severe weather affected a large portion of the northern hemisphere. These incidents cannot all be attributed only to climate change. However, recent rapid breaking of significant meteorological records is concerning for climate change specialists. Let’s take a look back at the events of the summer. As it comes to an end and see how they relate to climate change.
As the IPCC, the UN’s climate change body, gathers in Geneva, we examine some of the biggest disasters to date, from Death Valley-like temperatures in Canada to deadly floods in China and Europe.
Mediterranean is on fire
From Turkey to Spain, forest fires are blazing, forcing tourists to flee to Italy and Greece, and eight people have died. The deadliest flames in Turkey in decades. On Monday, the European Union dispatched three firefighting aircraft to Turkey as Greece. A neighboring country, sweltered in the hottest weather since 1987.
“We are no longer talking about climate change. But about a climate threat,” declared Nikos Hardalias, the deputy minister of civil protection for Greece.
Flooding in China
The number of people killed in the floods that ravaged China’s central city of Zhengzhou last month reached 302, with a year’s worth of rain falling there in just three days.
People were stranded in road tunnels and the subway system as the waters rose, and torrents of murky water swept cars through the streets due to extreme weather. Rainfall in Beijing, the capital of China, exceeded a previous record by 140 years. The floods ruined construction sites, demolished roads and bridges, and submerged cars.
Canada’s Heatwave
Western Canada saw a “heat dome” in late June. Heat dome a condition in which hot air is trapped by high pressure fronts and causes sweltering temperatures in extreme weather. When it finally reached 49.6 degrees Celsius (121 degrees Fahrenheit) in the village of Lytton on June 30, the nation had already broken its record high temperature several times. Then, fire largely devastated Lytton.
Oregon and Washington, two states in the US Pacific Northwest, suffered significant damage.
Heatwave in Europe
Temperatures in Europe have risen to nearly record levels. High-pressure system called Cerberus, named for the three-headed dog from Greek mythology, according to the Conversation. Throughout southern and eastern Europe, including France, Spain, Poland, and Greece, temperatures have risen dramatically during the past week.
Across addition to numerous other publications, the severe weather across Europe hit. The front pages of the French newspaper Le Monde. The UK’s Daily Mail, and Gulf News, an English-language newspaper published in Dubai. According to the Daily Telegraph, a second “heat storm” called Charon is expected to raise temperatures considerably further throughout the course of the ensuing week. According to the Independent, temperatures might reach as high as 48C in Sardinia. In Sicily in 2021, 48.8C set a record for the highest temperature ever recorded in Europe.
Indian and Pakistani floods have claimed lives
South Asia was once again slammed by record-breaking monsoon rains. Wreaked havoc in north India and Pakistan after this year’s monsoon’s delayed start. Ended another deadly, early summer. After videos of cities being inundated by Himalayan rivers and bridges, Being destroyed went viral on social media, news coverage of flash floods and landslides. Reached its climax in the week of July 10. The Times of India claimed 22 deaths from the floods on July 10 whereas 49 deaths were reported by the New York Times.
The alpine state of Himachal Pradesh “received a month’s rainfall in a day”. According to The Guardian, while Delhi received 153mm of rain. “The highest precipitation in a single day in July in 40 years.” According to Down to Earth, the dry, chilly region of Ladakh. Which was formerly part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, got more than 10,000% of its typical rainfall on the 8th and 9th of July. The narrative claims that many “fear[ed] a repeat” of the flooding from the previous year, which was blamed on global warming, and that Pakistan needed “more dams…to use floodwater for our benefit.” Others countered that India and Pakistan, two “bitter rivals,” “have a good starting point to collaborate on early warning systems for floods.