Instead of smoothly rising temperatures and steadily increasing extremes, they are examining whether the trend may be increasingly “nonlinear” or bumpy as a result of knock-on effects from drought or ice melt in the Arctic. Some experts fear the recent jolts indicate the climate system may have crossed a dangerous threshold. Events that were once in 100 years are becoming commonplace. Suburbs of Tokyo have been drenched in the heaviest rainfall since measurements began and a usual month’s worth of July rain fell on London in a day. The far north of Europe also sweltered in record-breaking June heat, and cities in India, Pakistan and Libya have endured unusually high temperatures in recent weeks. This is not a localised freak event, it is definitely part of a coherent global pattern.” “The US is often in the spotlight, but we have also seen extraordinary heat events in northern Europe and Siberia. Photograph: Action Press/Rex/Shutterstockĭaniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California in Los Angeles, said so many records were being set in the US this summer that they no longer made the news: “The extremes that would have been newsworthy a couple of years ago aren’t, because they pale in comparison to the astonishing rises a few weeks ago.” This was happening in other countries too, he said, though with less media attention. People watch the Ruhr in flood from the Brehminsel dam. Last weekend, the monitoring station at Death Valley in California registered 54.4C, which could prove to be the highest reliably recorded temperature on Earth. Scientists said these extremes at such latitudes were virtually impossible without human-driven warming. The Canadian national daily heat record was exceeded by more than 5C two weeks ago, as were several local records in Oregon and Washington. The Americas have been the focus in recent weeks.
Computer models predict this will cause more extreme weather, which means records will be broken with more frequency in more places. The seven hottest years in recorded history have occurred since 2014, largely as a result of global heating, which is caused by engine exhaust fumes, forest burning and other human activities. What we have seen in Germany is broadly consistent with this trend.” said Carlo Buontempo, the director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. Meanwhile, the total death toll from the storms and floods rose to at least 81 people.“With climate change we do expect all hydro-meteorological extremes to become more extreme. Multiple people are believed to be trapped in the buildings, but rescue work is difficult.
ESSEN GERMANY FLOOD UPDATE
Update (1): In Erftstadt-Blessem, several buildings collapsed due to high water. There are also restrictions on train services to Brussels In long-distance traffic, this affects the Cologne-Wuppertal-Hagen-Dortmund, Cologne-Koblenz and Cologne-Düsseldorf-Essen-Dortmund lines, among others. Train services continue to be severely restricted in the flooded areas. Update (2): On Friday (16 July), the state of North Rhine-Westphalia announced that the following counties are or were affected by the floods: Oberbergischer Kreis, Rhein-Sieg-Kreis, Mettmann, Heinsberg, Düren, Hochsauerlandkreis, Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis, Wuppertal, Rhein-Erft-Kreis, Bochum, Hagen, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Euskirchen, Essen, Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis, Cologne, Leverkusen, Solingen, Märkischer Kreis, Oberhausen, Unna, Düsseldorf and Bottrop. Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that there were further fatalities in the house collapses in Erftstadt-Blessem. Travelers in the affected area should regularly check the situation. Update (3): The district of Düren, which is currently severely affected by flooding, has set up a liveblog at the link below.
0 kommentar(er)
