Climate change is taking its toll. In Europe this past week, and especially in France, records were set for the highest temperatures ever recorded as the region continued to face an extreme heatwave. Temperatures in southern France were reported to have hit 45.9 °C, two degrees higher than the previous record, equivalent to 115 °F. The major spike in temperature is linked to other recent record setting events across Europe and the rest of the world. The World Meteorological Organization is confident that the extreme heat can be attributed to climate change, as the heatwave is a continuation of the hottest four years on record, from 2015 to 2019.
People in France are not taking kindly to the situation either. Thousands of schools were closed because of the heat, and climate protesters were seen rallying throughout the nation. A student from France who recently visited the STEM Academy on an exchange trip was quoted as saying, “It felt like we were in a [explicative] oven.”
In other parts of Europe, additional challenges were created by the heatwave. Firefighters in northern Spain have battled major wildfires for several days now, which have burned 6,500 hectares of land, with the potential to devastate thousands more. Deaths were also reported throughout Spain because of the extreme heat.
The United States can expect to see similar issues in the coming months, as the same trends on temperature have been seen around the world. Climate change is leading to more aggressive and deadly storms, and more severe and dire droughts and heatwaves. Without major overhauls to many aspects of our current lifestyle, the situation will most certainly get worse…
Source:
Henley, Jon, et al. “France Records All-Time Highest Temperature of 45.9C.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 28 June 2019, www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/28/france-on-red-alert-as-heatwave-forecast-to-reach-record-45c.
