Floods, Fires and Deadly Heat Are Alarm Bells

Washington Post: “Scientists say there is no question that this cacophony was caused by climate change — or that it will continue to intensify as the planet warms. Research shows that human greenhouse gas emissions, particularly from burning fossil fuels, have raised Earth’s temperature by about 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels. Unless humanity radically transforms the way people travel, generate energy and produce food, the global average temperature is on track to increase by more than 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 Fahrenheit), according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change — unleashing catastrophes that will make this year’s disasters seem mild.”

“The only question, scientists say, is when the alarms will finally be loud enough to make people wake up.”

Meanwhile, a study in Nature Medicine finds that more than 61,000 people died because of last year’s brutal summer heat waves across Europe.