A rapid analysis by World Weather Attribution that found killer floods and rainfall in Central Europe earlier this month from Storm Boris were made twice as likely by the climate crisis – induced by fossil fuel warming. Greenpeace has quickly reacted – saying that the fossil fuel industry should pick up the bill for the devastation, not governments and the public purse.
Storm Boris: causing havoc – but why?
As BBC News reported:
Central Europe’s devastating floods were made much worse by climate change and offer a stark glimpse of the future for the world’s fastest-warming continent, scientists say.
Storm Boris has ravaged countries including Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Austria and Italy, leading to at least 24 deaths and billions of pounds of damage.
The World Weather Attribution group said one recent four-day period was the rainiest ever recorded in central Europe – an intensity made twice as likely by climate change.
The World Weather Attribution study warns that floods, in which 24 people lost their lives, will become more destructive with further fossil fuel warming and highlights the accelerating costs of climate change after the European Union pledged €10 billion for flood repairs.
Costs resulting from these floods – from damages to public infrastructure, to loss of working days, destroyed homes, appliances and cars – may impact national budgets and medium-term inflation. Austria’s insurance companies estimate that damages might hit €1 billion.
Poland’s government already pledged immediate aid that is “free and non-repayable” of 2 billion zloty (€468 million) for families and home renovations. Romania’s government already allocated 100 million RON (€20 million) to affected households, where poorer communities are largely uninsured. Current estimates of economic impacts may rise significantly.
A climate crisis-induced future
Reacting to the Storm Boris report, Ian Duff, head of Greenpeace International’s Stop Drilling Start Paying campaign said:
We must be clear about who is the victim and who is the villain in the historic floods across Central and Eastern Europe. Oil and gas companies like Total, Shell, and OMV made extraordinary profits through climate heating emissions, while ordinary citizens from Vienna to Warsaw and across the EU are expected to pick up the bill for the damages.
Greenpeace calls on Europe’s leaders to stand with their people and not with the oil and gas lobby and force climate polluters to pay for these historic damages.
Moreover, World Weather Attribution issued a stark warning for the future.
It said that under a future warming scenario where the global temperature is 2°C higher than pre-industrial levels, climate models predict even heavier 4-day rainfall events, with a further expected increase of about 5% in rainfall intensity and a further 50% increase in likelihood compared to present day. Again, these numbers are probably too low, due to the underestimation of very heavy rainfall in available climate models.
Featured image via the Canary
