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Journalism of Courage
A large part of Germany,the Czech Republic and several European countries such as Austria,Hungary and Switzerland are flooded after heavy rains caused the river Elbe,its tributaries,and the Danube to overflow. Flood waters have caused large-scale power loss and millions of euros in damages. At least 21 people are reported to have lost their lives
WHY IT HAPPENED
According to AIR Worldwide,its due to low pressure created by the collision of warm air from the Black Sea with colder air.
Stefan Rahmstorf,an ocean physicist,says these eventsin which pressure systems stay locked in place causing a weather pattern that persistshave been occurring for around a decade,coinciding with higher temperatures and widening Arctic sea ice loss.
Further proof of climate change? Many scientists believe so and link it to the increasing number of freak weather occurrences around the world.
SOMETHINGS WRONG
in 2002,a similar flooding took place in central Europe on a much larger scale,and it was termed a once-in-a-century flood. The Elbe rose to heights not seen since 1845 and several cities of Germany and the Czech Republic were devastated. In subsequent years,there have been massive floods in Brazil and Thailand. The 2010 floods in Pakistan killed 2,000 people. The same year,floods in China killed more than 3,000 people.
In 2003,a heatwave swept across Europe,so severe that that summer recorded the highest temperatures in the region in around 500 years. The heatwave reportedly led to 70,000 deaths,14,000 of them in France alone. Forest fires and droughts broke out in the region that also witnessed large-scale crop failure.
2012s Hurricane Sandy was one of the worst natural disasters to affect the US. The superstorm was the second-largest Atlantic tropical cyclone on record. It is estimated to have caused 50 billion in economic damages.
The past four months of 2013 have been the hottest ever in Australia. What has caught the attention of scientists is not just the intensity,but also the spatial extent and duration of the heatwave. The intensity of the heatwave has caused bushfires and affected grain production.
Climate change?
Too early to say
Despite the fears,scientists caution against linking single extreme-weather events with climate change as a whole. It will take much more time and more detailed studying to be able to satisfactorily conclude that these disasters were not merely a result of a collusion of several different and unfortunate coincidences in weather phenomena.
