To think for a moment that it is warmer in Europe than it is in Saudi Arabia. The unseasonal heat wave that has sent the mercury soaring to record highs brings with it a host of problems. Unlike our urban environment which has an 80% level of air conditioned build-up, in Europe it is less than half that. As for residential accommodation it is even less.
Consequently, with temperatures hitting the 40 degree Celsius mark the muggy heat is dangerous for those so historically unused to it. Their homes and offices and factories are not made for such torrid climes and the elderly and children are at the highest risk.
Wimbledon is being played in the hottest temperatures in its history. In Antwerp the FIH hockey matches are sweltering in temperatures not seen since 1940. In Spain it hasn’t happened for a century and in London the last time there was such a spike was in the 19th century.
So, what is happening and what does it mean for the changes that such shifts can trigger not just in Europe but through the ripple effect around the world? From forest fires to harvest loss the future could be catastrophic if the dangers are not recognized and some measures taken to contain potential damage.
The fear of floods and droughts out of season, huge wildfires as the heat turns timber to kindle, all of these resulting in food shortage, lack of potable water and terrain destruction by way of erosion.
In the immediate fallout there is the specter of 2003 rising again when a heat wave of less intensity killed 70,000 people across Europe, nearly a third of them in France itself.
With no indication that these soaring temperatures will drop in the following week the living conditions for the average citizens are a matter of concern. Most housing in Europe is built with material designed to keep the heat in rather than air the confines. It can be stifling and even hotter inside the home than outside.
Countries like Germany and Poland usually associated with cold and wind chill are expecting near 40 degree C temperature in the coming days and ‘shelters’ for cooling the populace are being created in what is being termed a crisis of gigantic proportions. Could this be the hottest summer in recorded history. There seems enough evidence that is definitely a contender and the fallout over the months as everything in dropping of the time dominos is skewed could also be devastating. Most vitally, the price of food and the hope that Nature will hold her guns and not add to the chaos.
