The heaviest rains in a hundred years caused massive floods across much of Europe this summer, resulting in more than 200 deaths and billions of euros in damage to infrastructure, homes and businesses. A heatwave across the Mediterranean set the stage for devastating wildfires to destroy more than 270,000 hectares of land. The number of fires recorded in the EU so far this year is more than three times the average of the past decade. Turkey, Russia, Algeria and the US have also seen huge fires, with record droughts in the western US and parts of Brazil. In September, record rainfall flooded New York. Our climate is changing.
That means we must change, too — we need to change our behaviour and the way we tackle the climate crisis. The time for warnings is over. Everyone can see that the devastating impact of climate change is already with us.
