With the hottest temperatures on record month after month as well as more extreme weather events such as heatwaves, floods, landslides and drought, the effects of global warming are showing. What is the current situation across Europe and how does the EU plan to deal with it? July 22, 2024, was - to date - the warmest day in recent history on Earth, according to data by the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). According to C3S, Europe has been warming much faster than the global average over the last few decades, more or less twice as fast.
This is due to a combination of different factors, said C3S's director Carlo Buontempo in an interview with Slovenian news agency STA on Monday. One of them is that the Arctic, part of which is included in a definition of Europe, is probably one of the fastest warming regions in the world. Among other reasons is the loss of ice and snow in the mountains as well as on the plain of Central Europe.
Heatwaves in Europe are already more frequent, more intense and will last longer. "So this is something we need to get used to," said Buontempo.
EU civil protection mechanism gears up for summer.
The European Commission is expecting another atypical summer in the European Union with extreme weather phenomena, the European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, told Portuguese news agency Lusa in mid-July.
At a time when southern Europe is facing high temperatures and central and northern Europe is confronted with consecutive days of rain, the Slovenian Commissioner said that the Civil Protection services are prepared through the disaster response mechanism.
While civil protection is a national competence, national authorities can request support through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism in case of emergencies. All 27 EU member states - and ten non-members - partake in the mechanism created in 2001. The EU's Emergency Response Coordination Centre helps dealing with assistance requests.
For this summer, the EU has set up a special fleet of 28 firefighting planes and four helicopters in ten member states.
The European Commission has also earmarked 600 million Euro of EU funds to facilitate the acquisition of twelve more aircraft, which will be shared between six countries in the bloc.
Extreme weather events in Europe intensify.
Across the continent, heatwaves and subsequent fires are endangering people, their livelihoods, animals and crops, oftentimes leaving a trail of damage worth millions of Euro while also impacting people's daily routines.
At the end of July, all Spanish regions, except the Canary Islands, were on "orange alert" - which indicates a "significant risk" on the maximum warning level scale - due to high temperatures or storms with warnings that maximum temperatures will reach 39-40 degrees, according to the Spanish meteorological agency Aemet.
On Monday, the thermometer in the south of France went into overdrive as a result of a heat wave. French weather service Météo-France stated that in large parts of southern France "the heat is set to intensify considerably," and the 40-degree mark could be exceeded in some regions.
Paris is currently hosting the Olympic Games with venues spread across the country. On Monday, the Paris Region announced the activation of the heatwave plan in the ×le-de-France region, where "air quality will be poor" according to the Airparif observatory. The regional plan includes the distribution of more than 2.5 million water bottles on public transport and "almost 200,000 hats, fans and water bottles" to Olympic spectators.
While northern Italy has been hit with storms and torrential rain causing floods and landslides in recent weeks, the southern part is facing a major drought. Deputy Premier and Transport and Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini called the severe drought in Sicily a "national emergency".
Last week, the National Association of the Agricultural Water Board (ANBI) warned that in three weeks' time "there will be no water for agriculture" in central and southern Italy.
Protests are growing in Sicily over poor water supply. The drought has led to a 60 percent decrease of water reservoirs, leading local authorities to ration water in Sicily's main city Palermo as well as in 50 other municipalities.
Slovenia was hit by major floods last year causing billions of Euro in damage and is still dealing with reconstruction work.
This summer again, heavy rain caused some floods and landslides in the most affected regions. Lack of rainfall however caused a forest fire in the southwestern Kras region in mid-July, the same area that was hit by the most devastating blazes in Slovenia's history already in 2022.
In Bulgaria, recent weeks of heat also led to fires: Since July 12, more than 1,430 people and about 280 units of military equipment participated in extinguishing fires across the country. On July 16, Bulgaria sought support through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and help from Spain, France and Czechia arrived.The government is working on compensation schemes for affected individuals and farmers who lost their crops, and is planning to amend the public procurement act to facilitate easier purchase of specialised equipment needed for disaster management.
On July 17, North Macedonia requested urgent help combating severe wildfires through the EU's Civil Protection Mechanism - help came from Serbia, Slovenia, Türkiye, Croatia and Romania. Between January and June, the country faced 73 wildfires. In 2023, North Macedonia counted 170 forest fires according to Kire Mihailov, deputy head of the National Forests public enterprise.
In July, neighbouring Albania experienced a heatwave and battled wildfires in the south of the country - also receiving aid from Greece under the EU's civil rescue mechanism. The heat also led to measures to distribute drinking water in cultural and historical heritage sites.
Greece itself is also currently facing fires. Its second-largest island Evia has been battling a wildfire since Monday with hundreds of firefighters on location.
"We still have a very difficult month ahead of us, the month of August, and obviously we all need to be absolutely alert," Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told ministers prior to a meeting on Tuesday.
Climate change: A cause for premature deaths, not adapting "violation of human rights".
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that if measures against climate change are not taken, four of its greatest effects - extreme weather events, poor air quality, food insecurity and infectious diseases - will worsen, causing an additional 250,000 premature deaths per year between 2030 and 2050.
Heat waves are the deadliest meteorological phenomenon associated with climate changes causing 489,000 deaths per year, estimates the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), but the actual mortality related to extreme weather events could be 30 times higher as many countries lack reliable data, the WMO fears.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) said on July 25 that climate change is making work more difficult and dangerous for billions of people. While in Europe and Central Asia the proportion of people exposed to excessive heat at work is low by global standards, it has increased more than in any other region of the world over the past 20 years, the ILO said further.
In a report released by Oxfam France earlier in July, the non-governmental organisation denounced that at least 26 of the 50 fundamental rights, such as health, access to education or decent housing, are threatened in France by the "negligence of the State" in adapting to climate change.
FACT CHECK.
Fact check on weather extremes: Both historic hot days and climate change exist On social networks, users shared an old picture together with weather data for the year 1921. According to the post, there had already been maximum temperatures of up to 39.4 degrees Celsius 100 years ago. A comment stated that this is despite the fact that "there was no myth of man-made climate change" back then.
The fact-checking team by German Press Agency dpa explains that the weather data and the picture itself are correct but that - in connection with the accusation - the difference between weather and climate must be emphasised. Weather refers to short-term events in a specific place at a specific time, while climate encompasses long-term weather patterns over a longer period and a larger area. It is also said that humans are bearing a part responsibility for climate change too.
Read the full fact check in German: https://dpa-factchecking.com/germany/240626-99-537375/.
(The content is based on news by agencies participating in the enr, in this case AFP, AMNA, ANSA, ATA, BTA, dpa, EFE, MIA, LUSA, STA).
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