Latest news with #Klimawandel
Reuters
04-07-2025
- Science
- Reuters
Fact Check: Satirical fiery weather map repurposed to doubt climate change
A screenshot of a German weather broadcast altered to satirically show fiery colours has been shared online with the false suggestion it presents evidence that climate change is a hoax and its effects are being exaggerated. 'If you think climate propaganda is strong in the UK... check out the fiery inferno hell shown on German TV. Climate change is a scam,' said a July 1 Facebook post, opens new tab sharing the screenshot, which had a logo apparently indicating the fiery colours had been broadcast on German news programme Tagesthemen. A similar post on X received more than 2 million views, opens new tab. The comments underneath the Facebook post suggest some had taken it as being genuine. 'They may con the youngsters but us elderly know better,' said one comment, opens new tab under the post. However, a spokesperson for Tagesthemen said in an email the screenshot was fake and that it had not broadcast a lava-like map. The image is consistent, opens new tab with the June 28 broadcast, opens new tab of Tagesthemen - in terms of the presenter, his clothes and the temperatures displayed on the map - indicating the screenshot was taken from this programme and then altered. The X account that first published, opens new tab the screenshot, responding to a Reuters request for comment, said, opens new tab the image was satirical. He added that it's a variation of a long-running joke on German social media, pointing to another altered Tagesthemen broadcast posted two years earlier, opens new tab. Satire. The account that posted the image says it is satire. A spokesperson for German news programme Tagesthemen said the image was fake and that it had not broadcast the lava-like map. This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work.
The National
02-07-2025
- Climate
- The National
Europe's heatwave: Temperature hits 40°C in Germany
Germany was on Wednesday facing its hottest day of the year with temperatures set to reach 40°C, as Europe continues to be gripped by extreme heat. High temperature records, school closures and an increased risk of wildfire have all featured in the heatwave across Europe this week. It is now the world's fastest-warming continent, heating up at twice the global rate, according to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service, with extreme heatwaves starting earlier in the year and persisting for longer. Tens of thousands of people have died in Europe during past heatwaves, prompting authorities to issue weather warnings for old and young, the sick and others vulnerable to what experts call a "silent killer". A hot weather front known as Bettina in Germany is expected to leave most of the country sweltering on Wednesday, with only the coast and mountains spared. The German Weather Service (DWD) is warning of an increased risk of forest fires due to the high temperatures as well as gale force winds coming off the back of thunderstorms. "It is quite possible that we will locally reach 40°C," a DWD spokesman said. Spain has confirmed it has experienced its hottest June on record. Firefighters in the Catalonia region have found two bodies after a blaze in the north-east of the country, which is currently experiencing a severe heatwave. The blaze in Torrefeta destroyed several farms and affected an area stretching for about 40km, official said. "The fire was extremely violent and erratic due to storms and strong winds, generating a convection cloud that complicated extinguishing efforts," the fire service said. In Barcelona, authorities are looking into whether the death of a street sweeper at the weekend was heat-related. Italy issued red alerts for 18 cities because of the extreme heat, as the danger of working outside in searing heat is being blamed for the death of a construction worker near the city of Bologna. Parts of Italy have now banned outdoor work during the warmest hours. The historic city of Florence was expected to bear the brunt of Wednesday's heat, with a top temperature of 39°C during the afternoon. There was a risk of violent and sudden rainstorms, particularly along the central Apennine mountain region, and for Sardinia and Sicily. The top floor of the Eiffel Tower closed on Tuesday and Wednesday, disappointing scores of visitors. When temperatures rise, the puddled iron used to build the tower expands and tilts slightly, with no impact on structural integrity, its website says. Laia Pons, 42, a teacher from Barcelona who booked Eiffel tickets for her family three years ago, said: "I tried to get all organised before our departure and the result is nonsense." Susana Leivonen, 45, from Finland, said her family were planning to brave the Paris heat and had come prepared with water and sun lotion. "We woke up as early as possible to get out as early as possible, so we can rest during the afternoon,' she said. Weather forecaster Meteo France said red alerts remained for several areas of the centre of the country but the heat was easing in the west. Intense thunderstorms with possible heavy bursts of rain were expected in many parts of the east. Temperature were expected to peak at around 39°C, with up to 34°C in Paris, and 36°C to 3°8C in Strasbourg, Lyon, Grenoble and Avignon. The scorching temperatures have raised the risk of field fires as farmers in France, the EU's largest grain producer, start harvesting this year's crop, with many working through the night to avoid peak afternoon temperatures.
The National
02-07-2025
- Climate
- The National
Europe's heatwave: Temperature his 40°C in Germany
Germany was on Wednesday facing its hottest day of the year with temperatures set to reach 40°C, as Europe continues to be gripped by extreme heat. High temperature records, school closures and an increased risk of wildfire have all featured in the heatwave across Europe this week. It is now the world's fastest-warming continent, heating up at twice the global rate, according to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service, with extreme heatwaves starting earlier in the year and persisting for longer. Tens of thousands of people have died in Europe during past heatwaves, prompting authorities to issue weather warnings for old and young, the sick and others vulnerable to what experts call a "silent killer". A hot weather front known as Bettina in Germany is expected to leave most of the country sweltering on Wednesday, with only the coast and mountains spared. The German Weather Service (DWD) is warning of an increased risk of forest fires due to the high temperatures as well as gale force winds coming off the back of thunderstorms. "It is quite possible that we will locally reach 40°C," a DWD spokesman said. Spain has confirmed it has experienced its hottest June on record. Firefighters in the Catalonia region have found two bodies after a blaze in the north-east of the country, which is currently experiencing a severe heatwave. The blaze in Torrefeta destroyed several farms and affected an area stretching for about 40km, official said. "The fire was extremely violent and erratic due to storms and strong winds, generating a convection cloud that complicated extinguishing efforts," the fire service said. In Barcelona, authorities are looking into whether the death of a street sweeper at the weekend was heat-related. Italy issued red alerts for 18 cities because of the extreme heat, as the danger of working outside in searing heat is being blamed for the death of a construction worker near the city of Bologna. Parts of Italy have now banned outdoor work during the warmest hours. The historic city of Florence was expected to bear the brunt of Wednesday's heat, with a top temperature of 39°C during the afternoon. There was a risk of violent and sudden rainstorms, particularly along the central Apennine mountain region, and for Sardinia and Sicily. The top floor of the Eiffel Tower closed on Tuesday and Wednesday, disappointing scores of visitors. When temperatures rise, the puddled iron used to build the tower expands and tilts slightly, with no impact on structural integrity, its website says. Laia Pons, 42, a teacher from Barcelona who booked Eiffel tickets for her family three years ago, said: "I tried to get all organised before our departure and the result is nonsense." Susana Leivonen, 45, from Finland, said her family were planning to brave the Paris heat and had come prepared with water and sun lotion. "We woke up as early as possible to get out as early as possible, so we can rest during the afternoon,' she said. Weather forecaster Meteo France said red alerts remained for several areas of the centre of the country but the heat was easing in the west. Intense thunderstorms with possible heavy bursts of rain were expected in many parts of the east. Temperature were expected to peak at around 39°C, with up to 34°C in Paris, and 36°C to 3°8C in Strasbourg, Lyon, Grenoble and Avignon. The scorching temperatures have raised the risk of field fires as farmers in France, the EU's largest grain producer, start harvesting this year's crop, with many working through the night to avoid peak afternoon temperatures.
New York Times
28-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
German Court Dismisses a Climate Suit but Opens the Door to Future Cases
A German court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit over global warming filed nearly a decade ago by a Peruvian farmer against a German energy company, but supporters of the long-shot bid said the decision had opened a critical avenue for future climate lawsuits. Although the Hamm Higher Regional Court ruled against the plaintiff, the presiding judge, Rolf Meyer, affirmed that German civil law could be used to hold companies accountable for the worldwide effects of their emissions. 'For the first time in history, a higher court in Europe has ruled that large emitters can be held responsible for the consequences of their greenhouse gas emissions,' said Roda Verheyen, a lawyer for the plaintiff, Saúl Luciano Lliuya. She called the ruling a milestone that 'will give a tailwind to climate lawsuits against fossil fuel companies, and thus to the move away from fossil fuels worldwide.' Mr. Luciano Lliuya, a farmer who also works as a tour guide, had argued that Huaraz, his city in the Andes, faced an existential risk of inundation from melting glaciers. He said that RWE, Germany's largest energy utility, was partly responsible even though it has never operated in Peru. The lawsuit alleged that RWE had contributed about .5 percent of the global emissions driving climate change and should therefore pay the same percentage of the costs of containing Lake Palcacocha, a glacial lake near Huaraz. It put that amount at $19,000. The court sent a delegation to visit Lake Palcacocha in 2022 and conducted a two-day hearing with experts this year. But the court-appointed experts put the probability of flood risk specifically to Mr. Luciano Lliuya's property at just 1 percent over the next 30 years. Given that small chance, the judge said there was no reason to investigate any link to the company's emissions. The ruling is final and cannot be appealed. Still, Mr. Luciano Lliuya said after the verdict that he was proud that the case had 'shifted the global conversation about what justice means in an era of the climate crisis.' In response to the verdict, RWE said that the notion of civil climate liability 'would have unforeseeable consequences for Germany as an industrial location, because ultimately claims could be asserted against any German company for damage caused by climate change anywhere in the world.' The company maintained that the lawsuit was outside the bounds of the German legal system and that it had operated in accordance with the law and detailed rules regarding emissions. The company also pointed to its work in the field of renewables and said that it had reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by more than half since 2018, and that it expected to be carbon neutral by 2040. The courts have become a central venue in the push for stronger action on climate change in recent years, with dozens of lawsuits targeting companies and governments around the world. Those include lawsuits against Shell in the Netherlands and one led by thousands of older Swiss women at the European Court of Human Rights, as well as lawsuits against energy companies filed by American state and local governments. Joana Setzer, an associate professor at the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics, said there were some 60 cases pending around the world aimed at holding companies liable for climate-related loss and damage. 'Today's decision offers a powerful precedent to support those efforts, by confirming the legal foundation for corporate climate liability,' she said. The environmental nonprofit group Germanwatch supported the lawsuit with public relations work, while a related foundation, Stiftung Zukunftsfähigkeit, covered the legal fees. Sébastien Duyck, a senior attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law, which was not involved in the RWE litigation, said the ruling made it more likely 'that those living at the sharp edge of climate change' will succeed in future cases. But environmentalists have also been the target of recent lawsuits by companies, including in North Dakota, where a jury found Greenpeace liable for nearly $670 million over its role in protests against an oil pipeline. Greenpeace maintained that it had played only a minor role and that the suit was an attempt to silence critics of the pipeline company, Energy Transfer. The two sides met before a judge on Tuesday, where Greenpeace argued the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to rule in Energy Transfer's favor. The judge has not yet ruled on that point, or on a separate motion to reduce the size of the award to Energy Transfer. Greenpeace has said it will appeal. The group is also counter-suing in the Netherlands.
Washington Post
28-05-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
Court throws out Peruvian farmer's climate lawsuit against energy giant
A German court ruled Wednesday that one of the country's largest energy giants is not liable for alleged harm caused by climate change in Peru, throwing out a decade-long claim by a farmer who fears his mountainside home in the Andes could be destroyed by melted glacier ice. The court found that RWE, the utility firm, was not obliged to contribute to the costs of protecting Huaraz, a city of some 120,000 people in the foothills of the Andes, from the risk of catastrophic flooding made more likely by climate change. The case was brought by one of its residents, farmer Saúl Luciano Lliuya. The judgment marks a blow for climate campaigners who had sought to use the German court system to establish a legal precedent for making energy firms liable for the costs of mitigating the impact of climate change globally. RWE, which has never operated in Peru, had argued that individual emitters could not be held responsible for 'universally rooted' processes like climate change. In a statement Wednesday, the energy firm welcomed the ruling, which found the risk of flooding to Luicano Lliuya's property was too low to merit damages. RWE said that if granted, the claim would have had 'unforeseeable consequences for Germany as an industrial location, because ultimately claims could be asserted against any German company for damage caused by climate change anywhere in the world.' In their case, Luciano Lliuya's attorneys cited an analysis that found RWE's mines and power stations were responsible for 0.47 percent of all emissions produced by people in the industrial era. As a result, they claimed that the energy firm was liable to pay around $20,000 toward the building of a protective drainage system for Huaraz, about 0.47 percent of its projected total cost. The city is at risk of catastrophic flooding from Laguna Palcacocha, a pool of melted glacier water that has swelled in recent decades as the nearby Palcaraju glacier melts. According to an attribution study published in the journal Nature Geoscience in 2021, the melting of the Nevado Palcaraju glacier would be virtually impossible in a world without climate change. At any moment, the lake could burst its banks and send a deluge of nearly 2 million cubic meters of water toward Huaraz below. About 50,000 people live on the banks of the Quilcay River, a high hazard zone where the flood could be strong enough to sweep away small brick and adobe homes. In 1941, a glacial lake outburst flood killed one-third of the city's population. The Palcacocha drainage project is intended to improve lake's existing flood defenses and protect thousands of Huaraz homes — including Luciano Lliuya's — from the risk of a repeat. In a statement Wednesday, Luicano Lliuya said that while he was disappointed by the ruling, he believes the judgment opened the door to holding polluters legally responsible for the harm they have caused. 'My case has shifted the global conversation about what justice means in an era of the climate crisis, and that makes me proud,' he said.
