Four dead as Europe endures deadly heatwave
Two individuals died in a wildfire in Catalonia, Spain, while France reported two heatwave-related deaths and 300 hospital admissions.
Italy issued red alerts for 18 cities due to the extreme temperatures, which meteorologists describe as 'exceptional' for their early arrival.
A nuclear reactor unit in Switzerland was shut down and another halved output due to high river water temperatures affecting cooling systems.
Spain and France experienced their hottest Junes on record, with scientists linking such extreme weather to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.
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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Wildfire on Greek island of Crete forces evacuation of 1,500 residents and tourists
A wildfire fanned by gale-force winds has forced the evacuation of more than 1,500 people on the Greek island of Crete, officials have said, as large swathes of continental Europe baked in a punishing early summer heatwave linked to at least nine deaths
Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
Why is the Met Office adopting the language of climate alarmism?
I gather it's been hot down south. My sympathies. As Londoners were sweltering, we had a chilly breeze off the North Sea in Northumberland. The UK Met Office says it is 'virtually certain' that June (the hottest in England since 1884, second hottest in the UK) was made hotter by human activity. Duh! Even if temperatures were not affected by greenhouse gases, which they are, the 34.7C (94.5F) recorded in St James's Park on Tuesday might have something to do with that weather station being a low-reliability 'class 5' site with an error rating of 'up to 5C'. It's next to a very busy tarmac path. Plus, it is in the middle of a city and therefore subject to a more general 'urban heat island' effect. Research by Arup reckons London's heat island is worth 4.5C extra warmth on average. So yes, the heat is indeed partly man-made – but not necessarily in the way the Met Office means. Besides, it's not exactly unusual to have hot days in summer: it reached 36.7C (98.1F) in Northamptonshire in 1911. As the world gets slowly warmer, we will see more hot summer days, though not as much as we will see more mild winter nights: winter nighttime temperatures have risen faster than summer daytime ones, as predicted by the greenhouse effect, just as Arctic temperatures have risen faster than tropical ones. The Met Office exists to forecast the weather. But increasingly it seems bored by the day job so it likes to lecture us about climate change. And here it seems to have been embarrassingly duped by activists. Go on its climate pages and you find a forecast for the year 2070, that summers will be between one and six degrees warmer and 'up to' 60 per cent drier, depending on the region. A lot of wriggle room in those caveats, note. Then it admits: 'We base these changes on the RCP8.5 high emissions scenario.' Aha! Unbelievably, shockingly, this national forecasting body has chosen as its base case for the future of weather a debunked, highly implausible set of assumptions about the world economy that was never intended to be used this way. RCP8.5 is one of five projected futures for the world economy this century, dreamt up by economists. Here is what it assumes. First, the world becomes addicted to coal, burning 10 times – yes, 10 times! – as much coal in 2100 as we did in 2000 and even using coal to make fuel for aircraft and cars. Yes: that is really what it says. It projects that fully half of all the world's energy will be supplied by coal in 2100. Second, it assumes that the world population will have swelled to 12 billion people by 2100, way more than any demographer thinks is likely. Third, it assumes that innovation will somehow dry up so there's hardly any new technology to make our lives more fuel-efficient – and we won't even try to cut emissions. In short, this scenario is barking mad. Don't take my word for it. Here's what Carbon Brief, an activist website, has to say: 'The creators of RCP8.5 had not intended it to represent the most likely 'business as usual' outcome… Its subsequent use as such represents something of a breakdown in communication between energy systems modellers and the climate modelling community.' Even the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that RCP8.5 should not be used as a forecast. And here's its chief creator, Keywan Riahi: 'I wished I would have been clearer with what I meant by 'business as usual'.' In 2020, even the ultra-alarmist BBC said RCP8.5 was 'exceedingly unlikely'. Yet here, five years later, we have the Met Office itself still basing its forecasts for 2070 on ludicrous assumptions. And no, this is no 'breakdown in communications': this is deliberately seeking extreme predictions to scare people and so get media attention. If they used more realistic assumptions, they fear, the future would sound less terrifying. Come on, Met Office, do the decent thing and ditch the climate apocalypticism. If you must try to forecast the weather in 2070 – and for all your supercomputers, you generally admit you cannot reliably forecast the weather more than a week or two ahead – then use realistic assumptions. Even if it makes the future sound less scary.
Sky News
2 hours ago
- Sky News
Women's Euros: Concerns for player safety as tournament kicks off in Switzerland
The Women's Euros begin in Switzerland today - with extreme heat warnings in place. Security measures have had to be relaxed by UEFA for the opening matches so fans can bring in water bottles. Temperatures could be about 30C (86F) when the Swiss hosts open their campaign against Norway in Basel this evening. Players have already seen the impact of heatwaves this summer at the men's Club World Cup in the US. It is raising new concerns in the global players' union about whether the stars of the sport are being protected in hot and humid conditions. FIFPRO has asked FIFA to allow cooling breaks every 15 minutes rather than just in the 30th minute of each half. There's also a request for half-time to be extended from 15 to 20 minutes to help lower the core temperature of players. FIFPRO's medical director, Dr Vincent Gouttebarge, said: "There are some very challenging weather conditions that we anticipated a couple of weeks ago already, that was already communicated to FIFA. "And I think the past few weeks were confirmation of all worries that the heat conditions will play a negative role for the performance and the health of the players." Football has seemed focused on players and fans baking in the Middle East - but scorching summers in Europe and the US are becoming increasingly problematic for sport. While climate change is a factor, the issue is not new and at the 1994 World Cup, players were steaming as temperatures rose in the US. There is now more awareness of the need for mitigation measures among players and their international union. FIFPRO feels football officials weren't responsive when it asked for kick-off times to be moved from the fierce afternoon heat in the US for the first 32-team Club World Cup. FIFA has to balance the needs of fans and broadcasters with welfare, with no desire to load all the matches in the same evening time slots. Electric storms have also seen six games stopped, including a two-hour pause during a Chelsea game at the weekend. This is the dress rehearsal for the World Cup next summer, which is mostly in the US. The use of more indoor, air conditioned stadiums should help. There is no prospect of moving the World Cup to winter, as Qatar had to do in 2022. And looking further ahead to this time in 2030, there will be World Cup matches in Spain, Portugal and Morocco. The temperatures this week have been hitting 40C (104F) in some host cities. 1:08 FIFA said in a statement to Sky News: "Heat conditions are a serious topic that affect football globally. "At the FCWC some significant and progressive measures are being taken to protect the players from the heat. For instance, cooling breaks were implemented in 31 out of 54 matches so far. "Discussions on how to deal with heat conditions need to take place collectively and FIFA stands ready to facilitate this dialogue, including through the Task Force on Player Welfare, and to receive constructive input from all stakeholders on how to further enhance heat management.
