Fatal Flooding in Western Europe
In the past week, over 160 Western European civilians perished from a combination of violent flooding, sinkholes, and landslides. With thousands still unaccounted for, and hundreds of thousands lacking electricity across Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands, the situation has become extremely dangerous and unpredictable. The sudden onset of these treacherous floods was quickly attributed to the historic levels of rainfall experienced in Western European states over the past few days. With nearly two months of rainfall falling in under 24 hours, the region was simply overwhelmed with the amount of water, and flash floods raged throughout areas of Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
These floods immediately resulted in a large climate change debate on whether or not these incidents could be directly related to the phenomenon. Many scientists have been predicting the onset of exaggerated weather over the next few years as a result of human pollution, and so far their predictions have been correct. In the past few years, the entire world has been experiencing record breaking temperatures and some of the most volatile climates that we have ever seen (The world’s seven hottest years in recorded history have all come since 2014). It is very likely that these catastrophies would not have occured to this extent if climate change did not play a significant role. While the relationship between the flooding and climate change has not yet been verified by scientists, a decision is expected to be reached within the next few days.
This climate situation will hopefully illustrate the pressing nature of climate change, and may result in more legislature, or at least more acknowledgement of the climate situation. Many officials are already utilizing the floods as evidence of the warming climate, and it is likely that public support for more emission control laws will rise in the near future because they have witnessed the effects firsthand.
Links:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/16/europe/germany-deaths-europe-severe-flooding-
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/16/what-is-causing-floods-europe-climate-change
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/16/world/europe/germany-floods-images.html
Grayson, those floods in Europe were shocking. Can't imagine receiving months and months of rain over three days. The impact, results and net losses were stunning... As we look at rainfall (shortages in some areas) and increases in other areas (the increase in hurricanes along the Atlantic seaboard) emphasize the need to understand the sense of urgency re a changing environment.
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