The devastating floods in Europe show the urgency of acting against climate change

Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands received the water equivalent to two months of rain in two days. More than a hundred people died and dozens are missing. “We need to step up climate action,” says the global meteorological agency, which attributes these extreme events to the alteration of the atmosphere by greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activity.

Heavy rains that have caused catastrophic flooding in several Western European countries are just the latest indicator that all countries must do more to contain climate change-induced disasters, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Friday.

The UN agency reported that Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands received rainfall equivalent to two months of rain in two days – on July 14 and 15 – in a terrain that “was already almost saturated”.

Preliminary data point to more than a hundred confirmed deaths in Germany and Belgium and dozens of people are still missing.

Photographs of some of the worst waves of water and landslides show huge holes where there were buildings still in the middle of the week.

The WMO spokeswoman told a news conference in Geneva that the images show houses razed to the ground. “It’s really devastating,” he said.

Europe is ready, but…

Clare Nullis added that the incident exceeded the capacity of the prevention measures implemented by the affected developed countries.

“In general, Europe is prepared, but when extreme events occur, like the ones we’ve seen (two months of rain in two days), it’s very, very difficult to deal with them,” Nullis said, noting that there are areas of “total devastation” in Rhineland-Palatinate, a state in southwestern Germany that borders France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Among the preparedness measures of the affected countries, the spokeswoman highlighted an application of the Swiss meteorological service that regularly issues alerts when dangerously high levels of water are recorded.

At the moment, the highest flood warning is found in popular tourist spots and camping areas, such as Lakes Biel, Thun and Vierwaldstattersee. There are also alerts for Lake Brienz, the Rhine near Basel and Lake Zurich.

The UN, ready to help

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, for his part, expressed sadness at the loss of life and destruction, and expressed his solidarity with the families of the victims and the governments and peoples of the affected countries.”

António Guterres also stated that the UN stands ready to contribute to ongoing rescue and assistance efforts, if necessary.
alor in Scandinavia

In contrast to the wet conditions, some areas of Scandinavia continue to reach scorching temperatures, while siberian plumes of smoke affect air quality in line with the international date in Alaska. The unprecedented heat in western North America has also sparked catastrophic wildfires in recent weeks.

Nullis cited the case of the southern Finnish city of Kouvola Anjala, which has experienced 27 consecutive days with temperatures above 25°C. “It’s about Finland, not Spain, it’s not North Africa,” he said.

She added that it is shocking to see this week’s images in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, “but in climate change scenarios, we will see more extreme events, particularly extreme heat,” the WMO spokeswoman said.

Sea temperature record

In addition, the UN body considers the increase in sea temperature in high northern latitudes to be worrisome. The Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea marked a record level of 26.6°C on July 14, making it the warmest water documented since records began about twenty years ago.

An atypical summer effect of climate change

These unprecedented heat waves, floods and other extreme events that the northern hemisphere is experiencing show a very unusual weather pattern, according to the UN agency, which recalls that climate change, caused by greenhouse gas emissions, has been documented as connected to these phenomena.

For example, the record-breaking heat wave in some areas of the United States and Canada in late June would have been virtually impossible without the influence of climate change. According to the data available to the WMO, climate change made that heat wave at least 150 times more likely than under normal circumstances, if human action had not altered the atmosphere.

WMO echoed Secretary-General António Guterres’ call for all countries to do more to avert a climate calamity related to rising carbon emissions and temperatures.

His spokesman urged action ahead of the COP26 climate conference to be held in Glasgow, Scotland, next November.

“We need to step up climate action, we need to step up the level of ambition; we are not doing enough to stay within the goals of the Paris Agreement. We need to keep global temperature rise below two degrees Celsius, or even 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by the end of this century,” Nullis concluded.

Source: United Nations